Of Fire and Flowers
by MeikoSakine
Summary: -COMPLETE- "I value your life over mine ten-fold, Roy Mustang." Riza said, standing up slowly. "Because I love you, and that's what you do when you're in love; you protect one another, no matter what."
1. Chapter 1

_Wow guys!_

_I'm not even sorry . I started another fanfiction without finishing my other ones OwO Such no sorry. Very no regrets._

_But anyway! I decided this year that for NaNoWriMo I was going to (Slightly twist the rules) And write a fanfiction… And since I have recently been obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist (Read that as Royai.)_

_Also, before reading please read this! I have made pretty much all of the characters very OOC. So if you want something that is very in character, I would suggest finding something else . So yeah, I do not wish to find messages and reviews with death threats for not making them in character!_

_And I have made Riza's father nice… because I feel bad for him XD_

_Also, I have changed a lot of the flow of things, namely Roy and Riza's past. So yeah. I might change it back though, so if it's normal forget I said this XD_

_And I am beta-ing this myself, so if you notice and mistakes please note me! _

_And that's pretty much all! Please enjoy, and don't forget to review!_

_Meiko~_

* * *

Chapter One

Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye quickly slipped out of the office, avoiding the Colonel's confused gaze. Once out of sight, she rushed down the hallway, and into the door of the women's toilets, throwing it open. Not missing a single second, she let herself into one of the stalls and slammed the door behind her. Falling to her knees, she leaned over the bowl and emptied the contents of her stomach into it.

When she was done, Riza slumped back and curled up into a ball. How could she get sick at this moment? She and Roy Mustang, the Colonel, were busy investigating a murder case. They were so close to finding the culprit; the person committing all the murders. Her getting sick was not what she needed right now.

There was a knock on the door, and Riza jumped, her head snapping up.

"Is there someone in there?" a female voice said. "Are you okay? Can I get someone for you?"

Riza did not reply. If someone knew she was sick, word would certainly get to Roy and then he would make her go home and rest, and she could not risk leaving him on his own.

Eventually, the woman left, and Riza retreated from the stall. She washed her face and rinsed her mouth before heading back to the office.

"What was that all about, Riza?" Mustang asked as Riza re-entered the room. Riza quickly thought up a viable excuse.

"I…" She started, thinking "I… I forgot I had to hand something to Führer Grumman, Sir. It was important."

"You had to hand something to your grandfather?" the Colonel looked sceptical, but did not press any further.

Riza sat down at her desk, and started to copy down all the information she had been given. Every so often, she would look up and steal a glimpse of the colonel. He always seemed to be staring off into the distance, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed napping, and doing pretty much everything but the work he should be doing. Riza sighed, and rolled her eyes. It looked like she would be working late tonight finishing the work he hadn't done.

Riza had known Colonel Roy Mustang for a very long time, since they were both children. They had met on an incident late one night, the same night that Riza's mother had passed away.

"_Papa, I want to see mama." Riza said, pulling on her father's shirt. He was sat slumped over, and tears were streaming down his face "I want to see mama, Papa. Please can I see mama?"_

_Her father wiped his eyes, sat up and cleared his throat. He picked Riza up, and sat her on his lap. _

"_Mama is not feeling well at the moment, Lizzy." Fresh tears started to flow from his eyes "There's been a little bit of a problem with her baby."_

_Riza's mother was pregnant with her little brother, and tonight she had gone into labour. The midwife had gotten there as fast as she could. Riza's mother had been told that this would be a risky pregnancy, and so far it wasn't looking good. She was losing a lot of blood._

"_A problem?" Riza asked "Will she be okay?"_

"_I don't know, Lizzy." Her father replied, hugging her tightly to his chest "I don't know."_

Riza's mother had passed away later that evening from loss of blood. Her brother had not survived the night.

"_Lizzy." Riza's father said, his voice high pitched from the crying he had been doing "I need you to go outside and play."_

"_But I don't want to!" Riza crossed her arms and pouted "It's late, dark and cold and I want to see mama and the baby."_

"_Lizzy, honey, mama needs you to go outside." His voice cracked as tears started to fill his eyes again "Mama and the baby are sleeping right now, and need you to go play outside."_

"_But I don't want to!" Riza held her ground "Mama always said not to play outside after dark!"_

"_Well, today is different, Lizzy." Her father's voice was starting to grow impatient "Mama wants you to go outside."_

"_No!" Riza stomped her foot, and before her father could stop her, she ran past him._

"_No, don't go in there!" her father yelled as she swung the door open to her parent's room. Riza froze, but it was too late._

_He eyes widened with fear as she saw her mother, covered in blood, laying back on the bed. The midwife was busy looking after the baby, and there was another man in the room also._

"_Mama!" Riza screamed, and the two people turned to look at her in shock. Riza's father tried to grab her back, but she slipped out of his grip. Riza ran to her mother, and looked into her eyes._

_They were cold. Unseeing. Dead._

"_Mama!" Riza called "Mama, wake up! Mama!" _

"_Hawkeye, this is not something a small child should see! Get her out of here!" The man said, his voice cold. Riza looked up at him, painful realization dawning on her._

_He was the funeral director. Riza knew that he was the one in charge of dead people._

_Her mother was not moving._

_Her father didn't want her to see her._

_She was dead._

_She had died._

_Her mother was gone._

_Riza let out a cry, and ran out of the room. She left the house, and ran as far as she could, tears streaming down her face. She had ran and ran and ran, so far away that when her legs finally stopped working and she fell down, she had no idea where she was._

_Riza had fallen back onto a large patch of grass, and she stayed there, her lungs heaving. Her tears had stopped, but she continued to sniffle._

"_Who are you?" A voice said. Riza jumped up, clutching herself._

"_Who's there?" Riza loudly said into the darkness ,trying to sound brave and failing._

"_It's okay. I won't hurt you." A hand fell on Riza's shoulder, and she yelped, turning quickly and landing a punch in the person's face._

"_Ow!" The voice cried, and the person fell back "What was that for?"_

_Riza retracted her hand, and looked down. The person was a boy, who looked not that much older than she was. He was dressed in scruffy peasant clothes, very similar to her own. The only difference was his were muddy, and looked like they had not been washed in months. He wore no shoes, and Riza could see the soles of his feet were blackened with dirt. He clearly had not had a bath in a while._

_Riza looked up into his eyes. His eyes were black, pitch black, and looked tired, lonely yet intrigued. His hair was black too, and fell in a limp mop around his face._

"_I'm sorry." Riza apologized, and held out a hand to the boy, helping him up "You surprised me."_

"_I'm sorry for surprising you." The boy replied, and then smiled "My name's Roy. I'm seven years old, and I live here."_

"_You live in this field?" Riza asked, astonished. Roy laughed._

"_Well, I live in the orphanage over there, but I sneak out here most nights. It's nice to be out in the open, under the skies."_

"_Oh, I'm sorry." Riza found herself apologizing._

"_Don't be." Roy's smiled faltered "I don't like people feeling sorry for me. Who are you, anyway?"_

"_I'm Elizabeth, six years old." Riza replied "Most people call me Riza, but I am called Lizzy by my papa and my mama-" Riza cut herself off, and corrected herself "Just by my papa."_

"_You're only six?" Roy said, surprised "You should be at home!"_

"_You're only a little bit older than me!" Riza replied, hands on hips "And anyway, I don't want to go home."_

"_Why not?"_

_Tears started to swell up in her eyes._

"_My mama died tonight." Riza replied. Roy reached out and put his hand on her shoulder._

"_I'm sorry." He said. Riza smiled softly._

"_Don't be." She replied, echoing his words from earlier "I don't like people feeling sorry for me."_

Riza looked up again at Roy, and fought back a blush when she realized he was looking straight at her. Their eyes met, and Roy smiled.

"I think I've found a lead." The Colonel said, holding up piece of paper. Riza stood up, and walked over to his desk, taking the piece of paper and reading it.

The murder case they were working on was pretty gory, and one that Riza wanted to be over pretty soon. Multiple civilians, specifically young women, were turning up in backstreets all around Central. The victims would be found cut up, much like the victims of another famous serial killed, Barry the Chopper. Though the difference with these murders was that a note would be left at the crime scene.

"So, what you've found out is something about the notes left?" Riza asked, her eyes skimming the rest of the report.

"Yes." Roy confirmed, nodding "At first they just like a random shopping list, But after reading them, they all seem to have something in common. I believe there is a hidden code behind them."

"And that is?" Riza helped herself to the copies of the notes on the colonel's table. They really did seem like a random shopping list. The first one that Riza looked at said '_1 tub of ice cream'_. Another said '_1 lbs of elderberries'. _The first thing Riza would've looked at on the real notes would be the handwriting, but the notes had seemingly been written by different people each time, most likely the victim themselves.

Riza continued to read through the notes as the phone rang. The Colonel picked it up.

"Yes… No… I'm free… Yes, she's here… We'll be there as soon as we can… thank you… goodbye." Roy put down the phone, and Riza looked up at him.

"There's been another murder." He said. Riza's stomach dropped. She knew what was coming next.

"We need to go to the scene, right?" Riza asked. Roy nodded.

Riza hated going to murder scenes. She hated seeing dead bodies. Of course, she had seen so many in her life, but it never got any better. Every one of those victims was a son or daughter, a husband, wife or loved one, a sister or brother, a best friend.

Of course, Riza had seen many dead bodies. She had seen her mother's at age six. Then her father's at age 19. Then there was the Ishbal civil war, and Riza saw more bodies that any girl her age should of.

The pair donned coats, and headed out. Roy insisted on driving, and took the wheel. Riza climbed in next to him, and sat back.

After her first meeting with Roy, they had been close friends. They had met up in that field every day, playing, laughing, and telling each other their closest secrets- What food Roy had snuck from the pantry and what boys Riza had tried to kiss.

About a year after they had met though, Roy dropped a bombshell.

"_Roy!" Riza cried, looked around. She had arrived at their field at 3pm, the same time they always met. Looking around though, she was the only one there._

"_Where is he?" Riza said softly to herself, sitting down among the grass. She sat and waited for what felt like hours. Her hands were numb from cold, her stomach rumbling from hunger and it was starting to get dark. Tears started to run down her face. He wasn't coming._

_Had she done something to upset him? She hoped not. At the moment, he was her only friend._

_It was now so dark it was hard to see, and Riza pulled herself up off the ground. He wasn't coming. He really wasn't coming. She turned and started to walk away, when she heard footsteps._

_Turning, she could just about make out someone running towards her, and after her initial feeling of panic she realized it was Roy._

"_You idiot!" Riza shouted, making Roy stop in his tracks. _

"_I'm sorry!" Roy cried, walking slowly towards her "I'm sorry."_

"_Why are you so late?" Riza started to cry against her wishes. Roy handed her a hanky._

"_I'm sorry." He repeated "Someone came for me today. The orphanage found a relative that is willing to take me in. It's about time, after eight years."_

"_They came for you?"_

"_Yeah. I said I had someone to go and see though, and she let me come and find you."_

"_She?"_

"_My aunt. She had no idea I was even born. As soon as she got a call from the orphanage, she came rushing down to take me to Central with her."_

"_Wait, you're going to Central?" Riza thought tears were going to start falling again. Central was so far away! She would not be able to see Roy every day!_

"_I'm sorry. I'm going to be moving there. She wants to give me a proper education in a fancy school over there, and she also has her business. I asked her if she would be able to move here instead, and she laughed and said if she could she would. She doesn't seem so bad."_

"_But we won't see each other anymore!" Riza complained "I'll miss you!"_

"_I'll miss you too." Roy admitted "I promise I'll come back someday, okay?"_

"_Pinky promise?" Riza replied, holding out her pinky. Roy smiled and took it._

"_Pinky promise."_

Riza sighed. At least he hadn't broken that promise.

"Riza, I'm talking to you." Roy pulled Riza out of her thoughts.

"Oh!" She exclaimed "Sorry, Sir. What were you saying?"

"Riza, I'm worried about you." Roy said, glancing over at her "Is everything okay?"

Riza blushed slightly, and looked away. She was used to the colonel calling her Riza, and most of the time he asked about her private life, but this time felt different.

"No, nothing is wrong." She replied, looking away. She wasn't going to tell him about her sickness that morning.

"Well, if you say so." Roy kept looking back at her the rest of the drive. Finally, they pulled up to the scene and got out the car.

There were a lot of military personnel around already, but Roy and Riza were rushed to the front. They were in charge of this case, after all.

Riza braced herself, and they were shown to the body. There was a small child sat next to it, crying and screaming.

"Mama!" The child screamed "Mama!"

Riza felt her heart pang. The child couldn't have been more than three years old. A soldier was sat with her, trying to calm her down. As soon as the soldier caught sight of Riza, he handed the child over.

"You have a way with children." The soldier said, patting her on the shoulder. Riza smiled slightly, and knelt down to the child.

"Hey, hey, hush now." Riza said, her voice slow and friendly "Do you want to come with us? We'll find you someone nice to stay with. Okay?"

The child continued to cry, but allowed Riza to lead her to a car. Riza made sure the child was settled, and left her with someone whilst she went back and helped Roy with the body.

"It's another woman, Sir." Riza said, stopping next to Roy. He nodded.

"I know. Thankfully, she had some identification on her. We know her name was Ope Langard. 25 years old, unmarried, and that child was hers. It seems she was walking home with the child when she was attacked."

"This makes the 13th victim of the killer, doesn't it?" Riza asked. Roy nodded.

A different soldier made a move to pull back the sheet covering the body, and Riza braced herself. As the sheet came away, and Riza laid her eyes on the cut, bloody, disfigured body of Miss Langard.

Suddenly, Riza felt bile rising in her throat. Unable to move away quickly enough, she dropped to her knees and emptied her stomach right there.

"Lieutenant!" Roy cried, dropping down next to her and rubbing her back "Are you okay?" he turned to the soldier who had pulled the sheet back "Cover the body back up!"

Riza shook her head.

"I'm fine, leave it." She said, standing up. Embarrassed at herself for showing such weakness, she turned and went back to the car.

Sitting down, Riza suddenly realized just how tired she really was. Her eyelids drooped, and before she could stop herself, she was asleep.

_Roy left that evening, and Riza was left alone. Her father, who had shut himself away ever since her mother had died suddenly cooked her dinner one night, and announced that on her 9__th__ birthday, Riza would be starting school._

"_But why now, Papa?" Riza asked as she ate the meal of mashed potatoes and leeks "Most of the other people in the village started school ages ago."_

"_School costs money, Lizzy." Her father explained "And we have very little money. However, an education will be good for you, and so I have scraped together all of our savings and sending you to school."_

"_Oh, thank you Papa!" Riza smiled from ear to ear. She had always wanted to go to school, but knew that even though they had a big house money was scarce. Roy had been taught basic English and Maths skills at the orphanage, and had in turn taught Riza. She found learning fun and exciting, and forever longed to fill her mind with information._

_Upon starting school, Riza had met new people, made new friends, and gradually, the hole left by Roy started to fill. She grew from an immature 9-year-old to a mature 15-year-old in what felt like a blink of an eye. _

"_Papa, I'm home!" Riza called as she entered the house. She had been out with some friends collecting blackberries, and she set the huge tub down in the kitchen. Her father wasn't around, which probably meant he was in his study, working away studying alchemy._

_He would not tell her what kind of alchemy he was researching, but Riza knew it was potentially dangerous and did not pry. She knew her father had been disappointed when it was discovered that she had no talent for alchemy, and since that time when she was eleven her father had been searching far and wide for an apprentice to teach his findings to._

"_Papa, are you in here?" Riza asked, knocking on his study door. _

"_Yes I am!" her father replied "Come on in!"_

_Riza smiled and opened the door. She stopped, and her smiled faltered slightly when she realized her father was not alone._

_Her father was sat in his usual seat by his desk, but in another seat (stolen from her room, she noted) sat a boy. His face was still young and childish, but he had a small amount of hair growing on his top lip. He was clean, and sat upright in his chair. His shoes were polished and buffed black, his clothes looked expensive and well-tailored, just screaming Central. His hair was some-what messy, though it was obvious someone had tried to tame it with a pair of scissors. He met Riza's amber-brown eyes with his pitch black ones, and the penny dropped._

"_Riza, I want you to meet my new apprentice. Roy Mustang, this is my daughter Riza. Riza, this is Roy Mustang."_

"_It's nice to meet you, Miss Hawkeye." Roy held out his hand, smiling. Riza grinned, and took it._

"_The pleasure is all mine, Mr Mustang."_

* * *

_I'm not even sorry XD_

_Please help me out and drop a review! Con. Crit. is always welcome, I want to become the best writer for you guys I can be!_

_Meiko~_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello again!_

_Basically I have all this written up… I'm just going through, splitting it into chapters and then spell-checking and stuff. So chapters will be coming as soon as I can get them up!_

_But wow, everyone! It's been a day and already I have so much support- Thank you very much!_

_And I forgot to mention, but this is set after Brotherhood (Roy is still a Colonel though, because it's cute to write Riza saying it ^0^)_

_And I will have a little review corner down the bottom, so yus!_

_Thank you for your support, and I hope you all continue to support me!_

_Meiko~_

* * *

Chapter Two

Riza stirred, and opened her eyes. She felt disorientated, and her head hurt. Rolling over, her eyes shot open. She was in her uniform (Minus her jacket and boots) but she was in her bedroom. She could not remember how she got here.

Standing up, she looked at the clock. 5:49am. She was due to report to the colonel at 7:00. Riza grumbled about how early it was, but since she was wide awake now she decided she might as well get her day started.

Walking out into the living area, she yawned and stretched, smiling at Black Hayate as he jumped off the sofa and ran to her, wagging his tail.

"How strange, Hayate." Riza said to him as she petted his head and scratched his ears "Usually you sleep on my bed.

"Well, he had someone else to sleep with tonight." A voice said, and Riza immediately pulled out a gun from on the side table. The person belonging to the voice got up off the sofa. Riza sighed, tossing the gun back down.

"Colonel, why are on my sofa?" Riza asked, walking to the kitchenette and putting the kettle on. Roy laughed.

"Well, someone worried me sick last night when they threw up at a crime scene, almost all over the evidence I hasten to add, and then passed out in my car."

"I passed out in your car?" Riza asked, surprised. That wasn't like her.

"You did. After I was finished, I drove you back, got you out of your jacket and boots and put you to bed. I assumed you didn't want me to change you into your nightclothes, beautiful as they are."

Riza blushed. She had a few lacy nightgowns kept away in her drawer.

"Now tell me, Riza." Roy stood up, and walked right over to where Riza was standing. He leaned in, and looked her right in the eye "Tell me, are you really feeling okay?"

Riza looked into his eyes, and saw how worried he really was. Sighing, she decided to tell the truth.

"I've been sick, Sir." She said "For a little while now. Perhaps a week or so?"

"You've been putting up with this for a week now?" Roy looked surprised, and then sort of sad. "I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner."

"It's not your fault." Riza muttered, turning to grab two cups as the kettle came to a boil. She broke off a few clumps of tea from the big block she owned, and made up a cup of tea for each both them.

"Thank you." Roy said ask Riza handed him a cup. They both sat down at the small kitchen table.

They sat in silence for a while. It was broken when Roy let out a short laugh.

"What is it, Sir?" Riza asked, looking up at him. He laughed again.

"We've done this before." He said. Riza paused for a second, and then a smiled broke out on her face.

"We have. I seem to remember you were up all night training with my father."

"Yes. And then, at a stupid time in the morning, you came downstairs."

"I was so surprised to see you there; I thought you would've gone to bed hours ago! And you made me a cup of tea, saying it would help me get some sleep." Roy smirked "And then we sat in silence and I drank the whole thing, even though it was horrible."

"Hey!" Riza playfully kicked him under the table.

"Ow!" Roy feigned hurt "I must say, you have gotten better at making tea, Miss Hawkeye."

"That's Lieutenant Hawkeye to you, mister."

"Lizzy."

"Roy-Boy."

The two dissolved into laughter, all worries forgotten for a few sweet moments.

After an interesting morning of getting ready, Roy and Riza left Riza's apartment to head to the office. After all, they still had a murder to investigate.

"Okay." The colonel said, sitting down at his desk. Riza pulled up a chair so that she was opposite him. "We have 13 murders, all female. There were 13 notes left at the scene. We know there is a code within the notes; we just need to figure it out."

"That we do, Sir." Riza agreed. The note yesterday had said '_2 kegs of water'_. It really did seem to be a shopping list.

The colonel and his lieutenant laid out all the clues they had, in the order they had been found.

"_1 tub of ice cream, 1 lbs of elderberries, 2 lbs of apples, 2 lbs of nectarines, 5 lbs of kidney beans, 3 ½ lbs of ham, 1 yam, An edam cheese , 3 blocks of tea, 1 pack of spaghetti, 2 dozen eggs,2 packets of xanthan gum, and 2 kegs of water." _Riza read off the list. "What could it all mean? It doesn't sound a recipe. At least, not one I've heard of before."

"I've never heard of a recipe with all that in either." Roy agreed. "Maybe there is something with the numbers?"

"Or something with the ingredients?" Riza added "I remember Marcoh encoded his Philosopher's stone information into a recipe book. Maybe it's like that."

"Perhaps." Roy nodded "I guess we can't do anything but work it all out."

"Let's do it."

The two moved evidence around, playing with the numbers, letters, words, order of it all, everything. Nothing seemed to be revealing the true meaning behind any of it.

The two were still engrossed in their work when Edward walked in, followed shortly by his brother, Alphonse.

"Hey there, Mustang!" Ed greeted the colonel like they were old friends. Well, technically they were. The sudden noise made both Roy and Riza jump, the papers going all over the table and floor.

"Well done, you shrimp!" Roy glared at Edward, who just narrowly stopped himself from losing his temper. Riza stifled a chuckle. Over the two years since the Promised day, Edward had shot up like a rocket, and now stood at 5'7, a big difference to the 4'11 he had been when they first met.

"I'm not even sorry." Ed muttered, bending down and helping the two pick up the papers. Al walked over to help, but Ed pointed to the sofa that sat in the middle of the office.

"Sit down, Alphonse." He commanded "You've been feeling woozy all morning."

Grumbling, Al took a seat. Once the papers were all picked up, Ed joined Al on the sofa.

"So, where's the rest of the almighty 'Team Mustang'?" Ed asked with a grin.

"I gave them time off." Roy answered without missing a beat. It was true. They had worked hard on the previous case, and so Roy had let all of them –including Riza- have time off. Riza had refused on the grounds of that she would be 'too worried he would kill himself in the first five minutes if she left'.

Roy had been unable to come up with a valid response.

"So, what are you working on then?" Ed asked. Roy sighed in annoyance.

"It never ceases to amaze me that after all you've been through, you still do not know how to not be nosy!" the Colonel fumed. Edward seemed to have this talent for pressing the Colonel's buttons, and not in a good way.

"It's a murder case." Riza answered Ed's question "Surely you've heard of the serial killer who has been replicating Barry the Chopper?"

Ed nodded solemnly.

"And right now, we are trying to decode these messages." Riza motioned to the stack of paper.

"Mind if I help?" Al asked. Riza looked over at him and smiled. She had always had a soft spot for the younger of the Elric brothers.

"Of course not." She said "Do you want me to bring them over?"

Al shook his head, and stood up. It had been two years since he got his body back, but every so often he would have dizzy spells. Ed was doing a good job taking care of him, and when she was around, May would take over.

Ed dragged over a chair for Al and one for himself, and the four of them worked together.

"I remember Marcoh's research." Al said, reading the notes. "It seems to be quite similar."

"That's what I thought." Riza grinned, looking up at Roy.

"For his, we took the first letter of each of the ingredients, and then shuffled them around until they made a sentence that made sense."

"So what you're saying is, for example, _'1 tub of ice cream' _would be an I?"

"Exactly that." Al laid the notes out again.

"I." Roy said, writing it down "E, A, N, K, H, Y, E, T, S, E, X and W."

"Now we just re-arrange the letters." Al said.

The four sat around and worked on it.

And when they got the answer, they wished they hadn't.

Riza sat back from the table, hand over her mouth. Ed and Al looked at her with a sad, sort of pitying look and Roy's look was plain fear for her.

I, E, A, N, K, H, Y, E, T, S, E, X, W.

HAWKEYE IS NEXT.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Riza said quickly, and left the room. Roy stood up, and followed her out.

"Riza, wait!" He called, not bothering to call her Lieutenant even though they were in public. This did make her stop. Tears were forming in her eyes, and Roy quickly pulled her into a supplies cupboard so that no-one would see them just standing there in the hall.

"Hey, hey." Roy said, his hand on Riza's shoulders, comforting her like he did all those times before "It's okay. It's oaky, Riza. No-one is going to hurt you. Not with me around. I won't let them."

"I don't get it!" Riza said, her voice high "I don't know why I feel so emotional. It's not like me to cry over something as meagre as this, is it? I'm military personnel! I should be used to death threats! Hell, my whole lifestyle is a death threat!"

"Riza, I promise I won't let anyone hurt you." Roy was stroking her back now trying to calm her down."

The giggling around the dinner table this morning seemed so far away.

"Colonel." Riza asked.

"Yes?"

"Please, just hug me."

"What?"

"Not in a romantic way." She replied "My papa used to hug me when I got really sad. Please, just do it."

Roy had no reason to refuse. He wrapped his arms around his lieutenant, and hugger her close to him.

She may have told him it was not in a romantic way, but he couldn't help but wish it was. After everything they had been through together, after all those years, he could not help but develop feelings towards her.

"_Riza, please let me in." Roy pleaded gently, knocking on the nineteen-year-old Riza's bedroom door. It had been almost a week since her father had passed away from an illness that had been haunting him for a few years now._

"_Go away!" Riza screamed from the other side, her voice strange and disfigured from crying._

"_I won't!" Roy replied, putting his hand on the door "I understand how you feel, Riza, and I'm sorry. But killing yourself like this is not going to make it better!"_

"_I'm not killing myself!" Riza screamed back "You have no idea how I feel!"_

_Roy sighed. He did not want to fight with her._

"_Riza, please open the door. He was my master, my friend. I was close to him too."_

"_You were not! He was my father! I've known him longer than anyone! He was my closest friend!"_

_Roy felt his hand curl into a fist, and tried to keep his voice level._

"_He's not here anymore, Riza." He said slowly "I am your closest friend now. Let me help you."_

_There was a long pause. Total silence. Then the sound of the lock being turned._

_The door opened, and Roy was greeted by the shadow of his best friend._

"_You look terrible." Roy said, reaching out and pulling Riza into his arms "You smell terrible too. Let me look after you. Let me be your best friend."_

_Riza said nothing in reply, and just cried into his jacket. Roy let her, rubbing her back._

After a few minutes, Riza pulled back.

"I need to go and clean myself up." She said "You go back to the office. I'll be there as soon as I can."

The Colonel finally agreed, and let her out. He sat there in the dark for another few minutes so that it didn't look suspicious them both leaving at the same time, and then left himself.

Riza threw up again in the toilet, tears running down her face again. This wasn't funny! It had defiantly been a week now of her throwing up randomly. It seemed to be triggered by stress, but there were other things nagging her in the back of her mind. What kinds of things made you throw up? Food borne illnesses- Maybe she'd eaten something bad. Every day that week. Problems with the brain could also cause it- she hoped that wasn't the case.

There was always the possibility of morning sickness from pregnancy. But she had never been close enough to any male to do that sort of thing- well, not in the past few years anyway.

She left the stall, and looked into the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot, puffy, and stinging from all the tears. She hated crying, especially in front of people. It was a sign of weakness.

After splashing her face a few times, Riza blew her nose and spent a few seconds studying herself in the mirror. She was acting like she used to, a weak, little girl helpless to everything and anything. Crying at the drop of a hat, feeling strange things towards people she shouldn't…

Suddenly, Riza wished she had never joined up. She would be able to let her hair down, wear make-up, pretty dresses, high heels. She would be able to go out partying, come back late and sleep in the next morning with a hangover. She would be able to date who she wanted, be it a civilian or other.

Splashing her face again, Riza pushed aside these thoughts. She had a good reason or joining up, and even though she had sacrificed most of the things a normal women would be able to do, she did not regret it. She had the Colonel. She was happy.

Feeling a bit better, Riza made her way back to the office, stopping off at the canteen to buy something for the men waiting upstairs for her.

As soon as she was hit by the smell of food, her mouth started to water. What was the meal today? Quickly reading the notice, she found out it was chicken curry with rice, and a steamed ginger pudding for after. That was another thing she loved about being in the army- the food was really nice. And free.

Riza quickly ordered four sets of the meal, and asked to have them delivered to the Colonel's office. The staff told her that was fine, and Riza went back up to the office.

"The Lieutenant's back!" Ed announced as Riza walked back in. She smiled.

"I am." She said, walking over to the desk "And I ordered you all food at the canteen whilst I was down there, it should be up soon."

"Thank you." Roy said, looking at her with a soft smile. Riza looked up at him.

"Well, now we have a lead." Riza said, and Roy dropped his gaze "We should probably report it."

"And get you some body guards." Al added. Riza couldn't help but chuckle.

"What?" Al replied, looking confused "It's a serious thing!"

"I'm sorry." Riza apologized, still chuckling "No-one's ever said that I need guarding before. Usually it's me doing the guarding."

"Maybe I'll have to return the favour then." Roy said, stacking papers "After all, you have been looking after me for many years now."

"That's only because if I left you on your own you would probably go on some crazy mission and have yourself killed in five seconds flat."

Ed and Al dissolved into laughter.

"Hey, don't laugh at me!" the Colonel said, standing up and turning around.

The food arrived, and Riza thanked the person who had brought it up. It smelt so good, and looked delicious too.

"Wow, this is the life!" Ed said, taking a bite and then talking with his mouth full "Free food!"

"Ed, don't do that." Al said, taking a bite of his own meal.

"That reminds me, I meant to ask." Roy picked up a forkful of rice "What are you doing here?"

"Snuck in." Ed replied. Roy almost choked on his rice.

"He's not serious." Al added "We came to give you something."

Ed pulled out a crumpled envelope from his jacket. He tried to smooth it out, and then handed it to Roy.

"A letter?" He said, turning it over and starting to open it "Couldn't you have just psoted it like normal people?"

"It's an important letter."

Riza looked up. She had been so engrossed in the deliciousness of the meal that she had crammed it down her throat in breakneck speed. Feeling a bit embarrassed at being so unladylike, she pushed the plate away.

"What does it say?" Riza asked as Roy read through the letter.

"Something's happened up at Briggs." He announced "We'll be heading up there tomorrow."

After work, Roy insisted on taking Riza home.

"You need someone to guard you." He said, opening the door for her to get in "And I am that someone, it seems."

"People are going to talk." Riza replied "I came to work with you this morning; we're going home together tonight. And then tomorrow we're going to Briggs. Together."

"Oh well. You're my subordinate. And an irreplaceable one at that." Roy got in the car and started the engine "Let them talk."

* * *

_~Review Corner~_

_MissiB: Ah ha ha, you will have to wait and see! Thank you for your review, and I'm glad you have nothing to criticize ^0^_

_Eufinley: Wow. Such review. Much love. Very thank you. Wow._

_I'll see you all soon!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Woop woop chapter!_

_This one is a bit yeah, it's kinda short ._

_And I don't really have anything to write here so yay yay penguins._

_Again, thank you all for your amazing support! I will keep trying to reward you all asap with new chapters!_

_As always, review corner is at the bottom!_

_Meiko~_

* * *

Chapter Three

Back at her apartment, Riza decided she didn't want to cook. Roy agreed.

"Tell you what." Roy said, picking up his car keys "I'll go down to that takeaway we passed on the way here. I'll also stop off at my place and pick up some clothes and all that stuff."

"Okay." Riza replied, reaching for her coat. Roy put his hand on her arm.

"I think it is better you stay here tonight." He said. Riza furrowed her brow.

"I'm not a baby, Roy." She said, her eyes narrowing "And I'm not like I used to be."

"You have Black Hayate here. You'll be safer. Even you know he's a better body guard than I am."

"You're acting suspiciously right now." Riza shrugged his hand off and crossed her arms "But whatever. I'm going to take a bath."

"Even more reason for me to not be here." He said with a smile. Riza playfully smacked him.

"Be back soon, you idiot."

"I will be." Roy slipped out of the apartment. Riza leaned with her back up against the wall, and sunk down to a seated position. Black Hayate trotted over, and stuck his head into Riza's lap.

"Hey, Hayate." Riza said, stroking her dog's head "I better feed you."

After feeding Black Hayate some sort of dry dog food she had picked up cheap earlier in the week, she picked out some nightclothes from her room and left them outside the bathroom. If she took them in, the steam from the bath would make them damp and uncomfortable to wear. She closed the door behind her, and pulled her uniform off. Opening the door just a crack to throw it out, she jumped back in surprise as she realized she and Black Hayate were not alone.

"Roy?" She asked, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her whilst cursing. "Is that you?"

She stepped out into the hallway, and gasped.

That was not Colonel Roy Mustang.

"Riza…" The person said. The voice was male, probably mid 30's. "You look much more beautiful than last time."

Now recovered from her shock, Riza grabbed the gun she kept hidden on the bookshelf. Quickly, she fired two shots towards the figure. In her mind, she cursed the crappy lighting in her apartment. It did not allow her to see the person well enough to aim.

One of the bullets hit the wall, blowing plaster and paint across her living area. The other one clearly hit home, as the person let out a cry of pain.

"You bitch!" he yelled, seeming to clutch at him leg "That really hurt! I came back to see you after all these years, and this is how you repay me?"

The person clapped, and threw his hands to the ground. Riza's eyes widened. This person was an alchemist! And they used alchemy like Ed, which meant they had been through the Gate of Truth as well…

Riza had no time to think about who this person might be, as in a split second something flew into her, knocking her to the ground.

"This is why you shouldn't mess with me, Miss Riza Hawkeye." The person growled "Or Elizabeth. Or Lizzy. Whatever you prefer."

Riza tried her hardest to stay awake, but everything was going dark.

"I'll be back." The person whispered into her ear. Riza started at the closeness of this stranger.

"Roy, help…" Riza managed, before the darkness took her.

* * *

"We did what you asked us to do." Edward Elric said, clutching his hand into a fist "We delivered the letter. Let our friends go now."

The man chuckled, and clapped his hands together. Using alchemy, he dissolved the prison that kept Winry and May, the respective girlfriends of Ed and Al, ensnared.

"I'm amazed at how easy it was to break into her apartment." The man chuckled, and Ed growled.

"You better not of hurt them!" He yelled. This just made the man chuckle harder.

"I seem to believe that it was not me that sold them out."

May ran over to Al and hugged him tightly. The man smirked at Ed.

"And it was also not me who lent a hand in things. Pardon the pun."

Ed took Winry by the hand, and turned away from the man. He did not know who he was, but he seemed to know everything about everyone. This man was dangerous.

The chuckling stopped, and when Ed turned back, the man was gone.

* * *

_Fifteen years old. That's how old I was when he came back. Roy Mustang. I had not seen him since I was eight years old… He was older than me, but only by a few months or so. I was always taller, at least until he reach seventeen and grew so tall he hit his head on the door every time we came home._

_We went to school together after he became my father's apprentice. It was like it should've been, every morning I would wake up, make breakfast for the three of us, wake him up since Roy was always terrible at mornings; He never woke up on time, ever, and then get myself dressed. Our school had no uniform, something he found strange. Apparently, the fancy schools in Central each had a different uniform to distinguish them from each other._

_Since the town I grew up in was small, there were basically two classes. Everyone under the age of ten, and everyone over the age of ten. The youngest you could enter school was aged four, but as school cost money not many parents put their children in until they were much older. You left when they were eighteen. Because of this, I was in classes with Roy. He also thought this was weird, up in Central they have a class for each year._

_We were only taught basic things- how to read, write, how to do basic maths, science, and those would could alchemy. Girls were taught how to cook and clean as well, and the boys were taught woodwork, farming, and they also got to go out every Friday afternoon to play football on the big green._

_For some reason, those few hours a day I spent with Roy just being normal teenagers and hanging around were the best hours of my life. I can remember times when boys would try to ask me out and Roy would appear from no-where and ask me where I wanted to go after school like we were dating, I can remember times where he got detentions when I did, just so he could make sure I got home all right, I can remember the time he lied about his age just so he could stay for a few more months with me. _

_It seemed most of my best memories were with Roy Mustang. Every time I thought of a good memory, he seemed to be stood there, calling my name._

"_Riza!" He would say "Riza!"_

"Riza! Snap out of it!"

Riza opened her eyes, and looked around. She was laying in Roy's arms, and he was kneeling with her on the floor. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there.

"What the hell?" She said "I fell asleep on the floor?"

"Riza, oh my goodness." Roy said, breathing out "I came back to find you passed out on the floor in nothing but a towel, with blood and plaster everywhere over there. " He pointed to the wall.

"Woah, did you shoot someone?" Riza asked, standing up shakily. She pulled the towel around her tightly, her arms getting goose pimples from the cold. And most likely from Roy being so close to her, too.

"I didn't, you did." Roy replied, standing up himself bringing the gun Riza had apparently dropped earlier on the floor. He handed it to her, and she shrugged.

"I don't think I did-" Riza cut herself off as it all came back to her.

"Riza?" Roy asked, looked into her eyes.

"There was a man here." She gasped "He reckoned he knew me, and knew my name was Elizabeth. He also called me Lizzy." She looked over at the wall "I couldn't see his face, but I shot twice. I hit him somewhere, probably the leg. And I hit the wall too."

"At least it's not your blood." Roy looked some-what relieved.

"He said something to me, and then used alchemy without a transmutation circle… he must've been through the gate."

"We'll note this down tomorrow." Roy promised "Right now, we need to get you some clothes, something to eat and then bed."

"But the man came in here! He knows where I am!"

"It's fine." Roy turned to pick up the uniform and night clothes Riza had discarded outside the bathroom "If he comes back, I'll burn him to a crisp. Plus we're going to Briggs early tomorrow. We only found out today, there's no way he could know too."

"You're still an idiot, you know that right?" Riza asked, taking her clothes from the Colonel "Let me get changed. I'll be with you shortly."

Roy nodded, and watched Riza go into her room. Sighing, he hunted down cleaning supplies, and set to work getting the plaster dust and blood out of the carpet.

Riza sighed and pulled on the silk trousers and shirt that made up her nightclothes. Fighting the urge to prove to Roy she could be girly and wear a night gown, she brushed out her hair and put it up in her normal style. It was quick, easy, and kept it off her shoulders and out of her face.

When she was done, she opened the door to see Roy scrubbing at the carpet.

"He sure left a mess." He said, turning to Riza with an apologetic smile "I don't know if I'll be able to get it out properly."

"It's fine, leave it." Riza said, sighing "We can get something stronger to clean it when we get back from Briggs."

"You say that like this is our apartment." Roy joked. Riza paused.

"I'll put the food onto plates." She said, picking up the bag Roy had seemingly dumped at the door. He had probably opened it, seen Riza on the floor and dropped his stuff then and there to see to her. How nice of him.

After much deliberation, Riza decided on the best two plates she owned and put them on the table.

"I'm sorry my plates aren't very nice." She said "I never really have people round any more."

Roy looked over at the two plates. Both were obviously old, with cracks and chips in them. Roy recognized one of them from Riza's father's house, but the other one he had never seen before.

"This one was my papa's favourite plate." She said, putting Roy's share of food onto it. He had gone for fish and chips in the end, something she and Roy had liked to buy on the way back from school when she was hungry They would take the steaming hot meal and go to their field, and just sit and watch the clouds go by whilst eating. Her father's plate was white, with a china blue rim and Xingnese dragons swirling around the middle of it.

"Your father always did want to travel to Xing, didn't he?" Roy said softly, standing up and putting the cleaning stuff away. Riza nodded.

"He did. I think he would've loved to meet Ling and the others."

"I agree."

Riza moved onto the second plate, a light pink one with flowers adoring the rim. Noting Roy's curious gaze, Riza explained.

"It belonged to my Grandmother on my papa's side." She said "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"I never thought I would hear you, Riza Hawkeye, say something pink with flowers on is 'pretty'." He laughed; Riza couldn't help but smile softly.

"Stop laughing and eat your food." She said lightly, pushing the plate towards him and passing over a knife and fork. Roy thanked her, and after Riza had gotten her own cutlery the two ate in peace.

* * *

~Review Corner~

Violet Abilene: Thank you very much! I hope I will be able to live up to your expectations ^0^ Hopefully I will be able to get chapters up daily, so they will come pretty quickly!

MissiB: It's funny, the whole time I was writing it I was complaining to my friend about how bad I was at writing crime mystery, so reading you say that makes me very happy! So thank you! And I can't promise anything *shifty eyes* XD

Dotdodot: Ahh, you will have to wait and see! But I digress, here's an update!

Silver Shihouin: Thank you very much! He does need to stay vigilant, doesn't he? ^0^

Link234521: Haha, I should probably thank you for not getting annoyed at me leaving you to write… Pfft XD Thank you for reviewing ^0^

HarpStar: Hehe, thank you! I'm glad you think the flashbacks are cute ^^ And I've already finished this, so I will continue to upload chapters ASAP ^^


	4. Chapter 4

_Woo! Another chapter!_

_I apologize for not uploading another chapter last night, but I had a parent's evening at my school (I am doing really well!) and when I got home I couldn't really be bothered to do anything but sleep XD_

_But here we are! Another chapter!_

_Enjoy, don't forget to leave a review!_

_Meiko~_

* * *

Chapter Four

The next morning, they rose early to catch the train.

"Colonel, wake up!" Riza said, shaking Roy's shoulder. She had been awake for the past hour, and had already eaten breakfast, showered and gotten dressed for the train ride up. Roy, on the other hand, was still fast asleep on her sofa.

"Urg, ten more minutes Riza, please." Roy groaned, rolling over "I don't want to go to school just yet."

Riza rolled her eyes, and pulled Roy off the sofa. It was how she had woken him up in the past, and clearly it was the same now. He crashed to the floor, letting out a cry.

"Ow, Riza! That really hurt!" Roy complained, pulling himself to his feet. He had been sleeping funny, and the whole left side of his hair was sticking up. Riza laughed, making Roy reach up and attempt to flatten it with his hand.

"Don't laugh at my hair!" He demanded, rushing to the bathroom and closing the door. A few seconds later, Riza heard the sound of water running and rolled her eyes. Their train left in just over an hour, and he was choosing now to have a shower! Typical.

Riza cooked up some scrambled eggs for Roy, just the way he liked them. They were ready sat on the table when he came out of the shower. After thanking Riza, he dowsed them in tomato ketchup and wolfed them down.

"Ah!" Riza exclaimed, looking at the clock, "Colonel, we have to go! The train will leave without us!"

Roy looked up at the clock, and stood up.

"You're right!" He said, picking up the bag he had bought to Riza's apartment last night "Where's your stuff?" He asked. Riza went into her room and picked up her own bag. She had packed it last night as well, after they had eaten.

"Here, let me take it." Roy said, holding out his hand for the bag. Riza smiled, pulling it out of his reach.

"That's very kind of you, but I can carry it." She replied, turning and opening the door. Black Hayate got excited and started jumping around, and Riza patted him on the head.

"Sorry, Hayate." She said "But you can't come out with us this time. Mr. Fuery will be round later to get you, okay?"

Black Hayate barked in a form of reply. Satisfied with this, Riza and Roy left the apartment. They tossed their bags into Roy's car, and drove off to the train station. Train tickets had been in the letter, so all they needed to do was find the right platform, and get on the train. This proved a little more difficult than planned, as there seemed to be the world and his wife in the train station that day. Roy and Riza got separated at one point, and after Roy's initial panic he calmed down and eventually found her waiting at their train just before it was about to leave.

"You get really worried when I'm not around, don't you Sir?" Riza smiled. Roy frowned.

"Of course I do." He replied, making Riza blush slightly "After all, who would make sure I didn't do something stupid if you didn't?"

Riza laughed, and the two got on the train. Roy disliked taking the train, as it was almost always long, bumpy, rides with hard seats and less than pleasing refreshments on offer. Riza walked in front of him, and found a set of four seats with a table in a quiet part of the train. Shoving her own bag and then Roy's into the overhead compartment, she slid into the seat on the left by the window. Roy sat down on the right, facing her.

"This is going to be a long ride, isn't it?" He asked, and Riza nodded.

"It's almost a day's trip." She said "We should arrive at around 7pm this evening."

"Fantastic." Roy grimaced. That meant at least 12 hours of being bashed and bruised.

"Cheer up." Riza smiled "It could be worse."

That was true. Roy had promised Ling Yao that he would look into setting a rail line through the desert connecting Xing and Amestris. This was now in planning, but it was estimated that the journey would at best be just over 25 hours. That _was _worse.

The carriage began to fill up as it neared 7am, and finally the whistle for departure was blown and the train started to lazily drag its self forward. After a few moments, it had built up momentum, and they were flying through the suburbs of Central.

Whereas Roy disliked trains, Riza loved them. When her father had been in better health, he used to take her and then Roy as well on the train to visit big towns and the seaside and fun places that they could spend the day away from the small village Riza knew like the back of her hand. Just as she linked Roy to good memories, Trains were another thing that meant happiness for her.

"Do you want a drink?" Roy asked, taking Riza's attention off of the scenery whizzing past and to the cart that was already being pushed down the aisle by a waitress.

"No thank you. I have a bottle of water with me." Riza held up the bottle. Roy smiled, and ordered two cups of tea and a chocolate bar anyway.

"A chocolate bar?" Riza raised her eyebrow, and Roy smirked.

"Yeah. It's a Flake, your favourite." He opened it up, and snapped it in half. As its name suggests, it was very flaky and as soon as it was out of the wrapper it was flaking off all over the table.

"Roy!" Riza gently scolded "You're getting it all over the table."

"You better eat it quickly then."

Riza rolled her eyes, and neatly ate the flaky chocolate. It tasted amazing, melting as soon as put it in her mouth into a smooth, silky flavour that caressed her taste buds.

"That's a good as I remember!" Riza exclaimed. Roy chuckled. Flakes had been Riza's favourite chocolate bar for as long as either of them could remember. When Riza got what little pocket money she did, she would save it up and buy a Flake from the little grocery store in the village. She had always ended up sharing it with Roy though.

Roy ate his half of the chocolate, and scraped the mess into the wrapped, folding it up and tucking it down the side of the table so he could throw it away later.

"Why are we going to Briggs?" Riza asked. Roy shrugged.

"I'm not entirely sure, to be honest." He picked up his cup of tea and shook it slightly "It said in the note we would find out when we arrived."

"Oh, I see." Riza looked back out the window. The heavily built-up areas of Central were starting to thin, and green fields and small settlements started to pop up. She always found it amazing how only an hour or so out of the smog and pollution of the city open spaces and fresh air existed.

Roy looked over at Riza, and studied her face as she looked out of the window. She had taken her jacket off since it was warm on the train, and with her head turned to the side Roy could clearly see the thin white scar that marred the smooth skin of her neck. It was the scar she had gained when her neck had been sliced back on the Promised day. Roy shuddered just remembering it.

"Are you getting cold, Sir?" Riza asked, looking back at the Colonel. Roy shook his head.

"Just thinking." He replied.

"Of what?" Riza replied, raising her eyebrows curiously.

"Just… stuff." He replied. Riza nodded, and looked back out the window.

A few stops down the line, a couple with a small child got on the train. The only seats left were the ones next to Roy and Riza.

"Excuse me." The man asked Roy politely "Could you please let me and my wife sit together?"

"Yes, of course." Roy nodded, collecting up his stuff and moving to sit next to Riza. The man and his wife thanked them, and sat down in the seats. Their child sat on the mother's lap, looking out of the window.

"My name's Jerold." The man introduced himself "This is my wife Veronica, and our 3-year-old daughter Jane."

"It's nice to meet you." Roy replied "My name is Colonel Roy Mustang, and this is my Lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye."

"Do you mean _the _Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Veronica asked, some-what surprised "The sharp-shooter with the eyes of a hawk?"

"That's me." Riza smiled up at Veronica.

"Wow! It's so great to meet you!" She gushed "You're well-known in our town's women's group."

"Oh, is that so?" Riza asked, blushing slightly.

"Yes! You're probably one of the most amazing women we have the pleasure of aspiring to be!"

Roy felt Riza stiffen beside him, but when he glanced over, he saw that she kept her smile.

The family were only staying on for a few more stops, but in the time the four conversed like old friends. By the time Roy and Riza waved them off, they knew almost everything about the family, from where Jerold worked to what Veronica baked the previous evening and where Jane was starting pre-school.

"You seemed pretty taken with the little girl." Roy said as the train pulled away from the station.

"Pardon?" Riza said, looking round at him.

"Every time I looked over at you, you seemed to be smiling at her." Roy explained, and then smirked "Is the famous Hawkeye getting all maternal on me?" he laughed "Don't be leaving me to have babies now!"

"Oh, be quiet." Riza smacked him gently, sinking down in her seat. Roy frowned, instantly regretting his words.

Feeling awkward, Roy picked up a newspaper Jerold had left on the seat. As he read, he felt pressure on his right shoulder. It steadily got greater and greater, until he looked down.

With a gentle smile, he discovered Riza had fallen asleep, and was leaning on his shoulder. He pickup up the long jacket he had brought along for the sub-zero temperatures of Briggs, and draped it over his lieutenant. She was obviously worn out from the previous two days.

"Sweet dreams." He murmured, before going back to reading his paper.

The train arrived in the nearest station to the Briggs garrison at around 7:45pm, as there had been a few delays on the way. Roy gently woke Riza up, and the two collected their stuff and exited the train.

As it was starting to get dark, Roy hailed a cab to drive them up the garrison. The drive was long and cold, and Riza was suddenly grateful that she bought a thick coat to wear.

When they arrived at the front, they got out of the cab and Roy paid.

"You know, you should let me pay for things sometimes." Riza huffed.

"Hey, I should be allowed to treat you sometimes." He chuckled.

Riza shivered as a particularly cold gust of wind blew past them.

"Let's get inside." Riza said, her teeth chattering. Roy agreed, and the two walked up to the entrance. The guards there stopped them.

"State your business!" One of them yelled.

"My name is Colonel Roy Mustang, and I am here with my lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. We received a letter stating that we were required to be here." Roy shouted back over the winds. There were a few moments where the guards spoke to someone over a walkie-talkie like device, most likely the Major General who had been stationed back here after things in Central had settled down.

There was a mechanical whirring sound, and the doors opened. The guards motion the two in.

As soon as they were in Major General Armstrong, the tigress herself greeted them.

"You." She said, glowering at Roy "Why are you here?"

"I'm pleased to see you too." He replied, grimacing at her "I received a letter. It told us we had been requested to come up to Briggs, and that we wold be informed of why when we got here."

"Well, I didn't request your sorry arse." The Major General turned and started to walk before stopping and turning back.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye, you are welcome to come in." she said. Riza smirked at Roy, but held back.

"I'm afraid I can't go anywhere without him." She said to the Major General.

"Oh, is that so?" she replied "Well, you can bring him in, but make sure you keep him on a leash."

Riza laughed.

"Come on, Sir!" She said, using the same voice she used for Black Hayate. Roy grinned and let out a little bark before following. The Major General let a smile flutter across her face, and let the two in.

They all went to a room that resembled a lounge, and a lady who introduced herself as the Briggs doctor made them up some coffee.

"I would charge you for it." She said, handing the hot cups around "But I can see you're not very well."

Riza looked up sharply to see that the doctor was looking right at her. She looked like she was trying to figure something out.

"Thank you." Riza muttered, taking a sip of the coffee. It tasted terrible, but she was glad for some hot liquid in her. She had been braced for how cold it was, but nothing could've prepared her for how cold it really was.

"Well." Armstrong said, sitting down and throwing one leg over the other "I need to get to the bottom of why you two are here. I can't just have random people walking around my garrison."

"Excuse me." Roy smirked, feigning upset "I am not a random person. How long have I known you?"

"Too long." Her eyes narrowed "But either way, I can't toss you out into the snow to freeze. Well, I can, but I'm in a good mood tonight."

"Well, that's rare." Roy shot back. Riza gently smacked his arm.

"Mustang, if you do not stop you will be going out in the snow. The only reason I haven't tossed you out yet is because Lieutenant Hawkeye and I are friends."

Riza smiled. She and Olivier got along well since the Promised day. Oliver's reason was that they were both women who were not afraid to get their hands a little dirty kicking sorry enemy arse. Riza had agreed with this.

"He'll stop." Riza said, glaring at Roy "And thank you for letting us stay the night."

"It's fine." Olivier waved her off "Though, there is a little problem I want to discuss with you beforehand."

"Oh?" Roy looked up at the Major General.

"You see, I have pretty much all of the rooms that are not occupied stuffed with some stuff that needs sorting out. And all the rooms that have my soldiers in are full." She looked between the Colonel and the Lieutenant "So what I am saying, is that you two will have to share a room for the night."

"That's fine." Riza answered almost immediately "I need to keep a close eye on him anyway."

"I won't tell on you." Olivier smirked. Riza blinked, and then went red.

"I-it's not like that!" She stuttered. Roy looked confused, and then he understood and blushed a little himself.

"We are strictly professional now." He assured the older woman.

"Now?" Oliver picked up on.

"Can you please show us to our room?" Riza cut in "I'm feeling a little tired."

Armstrong smiled, and got a guard to show them to their room. Riza refused to meet Roy's eyes the whole way there.

When they were safely in their room, Riza looked around. There were four beds in here, each with a small wardrobe, chair, and desk. There was a window at the farthest end, which showed nothing but white at the moment as the storm was still howling outside.

"Are you okay?" Roy asked. Riza turned to him and smiled.

"I'm fine." She said "Just a little tired. What time is it?"

Roy checked his watch.

"It's a little after eight." He said "If you want to go to bed, I'm going to stay up for a little bit and do some more work."

"You, doing work after hours?" Riza smirked. Roy laughed.

"Believe it or not." He replied.

Riza pulled out some nightclothes from her bag –another shirt and trousers combo- and looked around. With a sudden feeling of awkwardness, she realized there was no-where to change. She could go down to the bathroom, but that was a long walk and she didn't feel up to it.

"Colonel?" Riza asked timidly. Roy turned to her.

"Yes?" he asked, studying her face.

"Could you please look away?" She asked "I want to get changed."

"Oh, okay." He turned away quickly "Tell me when you're done, okay?"

Riza slipped off her uniform quickly, shivering as the air hit her skin. She had changed with the Colonel before, but that was when they were younger.

"_Come on, Riza!" a 16-year-old Roy called "I won't peek! I promise!"_

"_No!" Riza replied, watching Roy splash about in the river in nothing but his underclothes "I don't want to!"_

"_Come on, please?" he pleaded with her "I want to have a water fight, but your father will kill me if I bring you back soaking wet again!"_

"_Good!" She crossed her arms "It was your fault last time, too!"_

"_How was I supposed to know that you were afraid of snakes?" he replied "I only bought the one! And it was your fault for screaming and falling into that puddle!"_

On that hot summer's day, Roy had somehow convinced Riza to get into the water with him. In the end, they had had a brilliant day, soaking each other in a play-fight.

Her father had told them off that evening anyway, since Riza had meant to be cleaning the house that day. Riza did not care about being told off though.

"Riza, are you listening?" Roy asked, turning around. Riza, who was only in her trousers, let out a little shriek and held up the shirt to her bare chest.

"Turn around!" She commanded "I'm not finished!"

Roy did not turn. His eyes were focused on her back.

"It's my first time seeing it since _then_." He said, walked up to Riza and putting his hands over the mixture of tattoo and scar. Riza shivered as his long, cold fingers stroked the rough skin.

"It's ugly." She said in a small voice "Don't look at it."

"It healed up better than I expected." He mumbled.

Riza stepped forwards, and pulled the shirt over her head. She knew she had probably just flashed the Colonel, but at this moment she didn't really care.

"I'm going to bed." She said.

"I'm sorry." Roy replied. Riza shook her head.

"Don't be." She did not look at Roy, but she could feel his eyes on her. She climbed into the bed, and put her head up against the pillow. It was so soft, and the bed was so warm. Even though she had not had any dinner, and she had slept most of the way there, she was soon out like a light.

Roy looked over from the desk where he was sat to Riza. She was sound asleep, her face looking his way. Her lips were parted slightly, her hair falling down around her face. Shaking his head, he slapped his cheeks firmly a few times and then went back to his work.

'_Fraternization rules.'_ He reminded himself _'Bloody Fraternization rules.'_

* * *

_~Review Corner~_

_MissiB: Ahh, I can't give anything away! I'm sorry XD Thank you for your review!_

_Al-497: Thank you very much!_

_Dotdodot: That's fine! Don't worry about it ^^ I'm glad you like the story, here's the update!_

_Crazy on candy: Thank you ^^_


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone!

Another chapter for you all~ Yay!

As per the norm, I don't have a beta so if you find any mistakes please note me to them so I can fix them!

Also please drop a review! Con. Crit. Is always welcome!

Enjoy!

Meiko~

* * *

Chapter Five

The next morning when Riza awoke, Roy had already bought a steaming bowl of porridge with a little spoonful of golden syrup in it up for her breakfast. Of course, he was already dressed and leaning back in his chair, reading the daily paper.

Riza sat up, and Roy turned to her.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" He greeted her cheerfully. Riza shot him a look.

"You are both up way too early and way too cheerful. Who are you, and what have you done with Mustang? If I didn't know better, I would say you're Envy come back to taunt me."

"Nope, I'm still old Roy." He replied with a smile. Riza flinched at the use of his first name. It had been so long since she had been able to call him that.

"Right." She replied, picking up the bowl of porridge "Thank you for the food."

"It's no problem." He replied "The food was going quickly in the canteen, so I thought I would bring you some."

Riza ate a few spoonfulls. It tasted good, and the golden syrup made is sweet.

"What time is it?" She suddenly asked. It did not feel like morning.

"It's 9:40." He replied "Your sleeping face was too adorable, I couldn't wake you up."

"It's that time already?" Riza asked, surprised. Usually, she woke up at around six in the morning.

"It is. You slept for a long time."

"How strange." Riza ate a bit more of the porridge "Has Major General Armstrong found out why we are here yet?"

"Not since I saw her earlier." He replied "Though she did say she would have an answer for us by lunch time."

"Ah, I see." Riza finished up the porridge, scraping the bottom of the bowl with her spoon "That's good, I guess."

There was a knock on the door, and Roy got up to answer it. As he opened the door, however, he was almost thrown backwards.

The Briggs doctor walked in, and paying no attention to Roy walked right up to Riza.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye." She greeted Riza "I noticed you weren't very well yesterday. If you want, I can treat you in my office."

"No, it's fine." Riza replied, slightly taken aback by the sudden interest in her health "I'm fine. I'm just feeling the cold."

"Let me examine you anyway." The doctor begged "It's been ages since I got to take care of a female patient other than the Major General."

Riza looked over to Roy, who shrugged his shoulders before nodding. Looking back at the doctor, Riza nodded slowly.

"Fine okay. Just let me get dressed-"

"You don't need to get dressed." The doctor cut in, taking Riza's hand and nearly pulling her straight out of the bed and onto the floor "Let's go!"

Riza shot Roy a look that said _'help me'_, but Roy just opened his palms and shrugged in a _'what can I do?' _way.

Riza sighed, and let the Briggs doctor take her to her office. When inside, she sat Riza down and then sat across from her.

"So." She asked, getting right to it "What have been your symptoms?"

Riza shrugged "I'm just tired, sometimes I throw up and I seem to be feeling really emotional about things too."

"I see…" the doctor replied, nodding her head "And how long have you been feeling like this?"

"The sickness started about a week or two ago." Riza replied "The tiredness and emotions have been longer."

"Hmm…" The doctor turned and rummaged around a bit. "Aha!" She exclaimed, pulling out a needle.

Riza looked at the needle, and swallowed.

"Do you mind if I take some blood?" the doctor asked. Riza shook her head, and pulled up her shirt sleeve. The doctor tied a small band around her arm just above the elbow, and in one swift motion stuck the needle into her inner elbow. Riza gasped at the sharp pain, and refused to watch her own blood fill the little chamber.

When the doctor was done, she took the needle out and placed a cotton wool ball against where the needle had gone in to stop the blood flow.

"Thank you." The doctor smiled, taking the band off from Riza's arm "I'll have some results by this evening."

"No, thank you." Riza replied, bobbing her head in gratitude. The doctor flapped her hand.

"It is fine, the pleasure's all mine! It's been fun to be around another woman."

Riza thanked the Briggs doctor again anyway, and left the room. She started to walk back in the direction she was sure her room was, painfully aware of the fact she was still in her nightclothes at this time.

Luckily, she met no-one on the way, and when she was safely back in her room she got changed as there was a distinct lack of the Colonel. She put her hair up in the mirror, and left the room.

Realizing she had no idea where Roy might even be, Riza walked around for a while. Every so often she would meet someone and ask them if they had seen Roy, but everyone seemed to be so engrossed in their work they had not seen him.

Roy got to the door of the lounge, and even though it was open he knocked to alert the Major General to his presence.

"Ah, Mustang." She said, a strange look on her face. It looked almost sad "Come in, sit down."

"Is this about why the Lieutenant and I are here?" He asked. Olivier hesitated, and then nodded.

"Yes. Yes it is." She picked up a paper from the table.

"I've already read the paper today." Roy said, trying to diffuse the tension in the room "The Elric brothers blew up another town! How surprising."

"This is the new paper." Olivier said, her voice low "I only just got it. The one you read was last weeks, the previous one."

"Oh." Roy looked confused "I see."

"Read it." She said, handing it to him.

"Thanks." Roy took it, and looked at the front page. As soon as he read the inked headline, his eyes widened and he dropped the paper in shock like it had burnt him.

"What-" Roy looked up at Olivier, fear and confusion in his eyes "What is the meaning of this?"

"I'm sorry." Olivier refused to meet his eyes.

"Don't be." He replied, scrunching up his fists.

"'Ishbal war hero, the Flame alchemist, prime suspect in murder case." Olivier slowly read. Roy's face scrunched up.

"I didn't do it." He said. Olivier closed her eyes.

"I know." She replied "It's not your thing to slice people up. You're more the type to burn them beyond recognition."

Roy's mouth twisted into a bitter smile.

"That's very true." He replied "But why do they think it was me?"

"The names of the murdered." Olivier explained. "Do you remember the names?"

Roy pulled out a little book from his pocket, and opened it.

"Marley. Alicia. Rachel. Yvonne. Sabrina. Abigail. Tania. Irene. Ursula. Namine. Maria. Gemma. Ope." he read out.

"Take the first letter from each of those names." Olivier said "That's what they did."

"They?" Roy looked up at her.

"Someone got an anonymous tip-off about the names." Olivier explained "Someone at Central worked it out."

"M." Roy said, picking up a pen and writing it down "A. R. Y. S. A. T. I. U. N. M. G. O."

Roy could easily work it out.

"I am Roy Mustang." He read out, his name getting tangled on his tongue.

"Yes." Olivier sighed "That is what the tip-off hinted at."

"So what, the notes left were just to throw us off?" Roy asked, anger filling him. Olivier shrugged.

"I don't know. All I know is that Central think that you are the one committing the murders. It's backed up by the fact that you 'ran away with your next victim'."

Roy's eyes widened, realization dawning on him. How could he of been so stupid! He missed the key point in the case!

"There was no Briggs mission." He said slowly. Disbelief trickled into his voice "Ed and Al tricked us!"

"I don't think it was them tricking you." Oliver added "They are mysterious boys, but they wouldn't do something like that."

"I know." Roy hung his head "What am I going to tell Riza?"

Olivier smirked.

"I'm sure how to tell 'Riza' will come to you." She said. Roy's head snapped up, noticing his slip-up.

"It's fine." Oliver said, locking her eyes with Roy's. "I will not tell a single soul."

"T-thank you." Roy blushed. Olivier grinned. He wasn't denying it.

"I've already made preparations for fake I.D's." Olivier leant back in her chair "So, how does Mr Claude Fenn and his newlywed wife Mrs Lena Fenn sound?"

"It sounds fine to me." Roy replied, blushing a little at Riza being his wife.

"Good. Since you bought train tickets under your name, Central are going to be able to track you here. The next train to the South leaves tomorrow, and I suggest you take that one and hide out over there."

"The South." Roy nodded "Okay. Thank you."

"It's nothing for an old stranger." Olivier grinned "Now, you better get back to that woman of yours."

Roy nodded, and got up to leave.

Riza put a hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to ease drop, but the door had been open and she had walked down here. Turning sharply on her heel, she ran as fast as she could back to the room. Closing the door, she slid down to the floor, tears flowing a little more freely than she wished.

"Stop it." She told herself "It's going to be fine. He didn't do it. He didn't do it."

Slapping her cheeks a little bit, Riza crawled over to the mirror that had been left in one of the draws and looked at herself. She looked pale, her bloodshot eyes contrasting like two twin drops of blood on a piece of white paper.

"I'm weak." Riza told herself "I'm too weak for this. Roy deserves better."

Riza studied her face a little longer, before getting really angry. She was weak; she had cried so many times over the past week, she got sick, she had someone following her that she could do nothing about, the list went on. Before she knew what was happening, there was an immense burning feeling in her fist. Riza looked down and saw the blood oozing out of cuts caused by the glass of the mirror shattering. She had punched it.

"Riza!" the Colonel called, fear in his voice. He rushed over to Riza, who was clutching her hand to her chest "Are you okay? You're bleeding!"

"I know." Riza sobbed "I know, I know."

"What's wrong?" Roy pushed the hair that had fallen out of her clip back off her wet face.

"Everything." Riza choked out "Everything is wrong."

"What is everything, Riza?" Roy smoothed the tears from her cheeks.

"I heard what you and the Major General were talking about." She admitted. Roy's face went cold.

"I'm so, so sorry I dragged you into this." He scrunched up his face again, like he was trying not to cry "I'm such an idiot. I should've been smarter. I should've seen this coming. I should've-"

"We're both so broken." Riza cut him off with a sad laugh "We're a right mess, aren't we?"

"We are." Roy agreed, pulling Riza into his arms carefully. She stiffened, and then relaxed into his arms.

"Both of us broken." She mumbled into his jacket "Caught in the moment."

The two sat there in their embrace for a few long moments. Finally, Roy pulled away.

"Come on." He said, pulling Riza to her feet and laying her down in her bed "I'll get your hand patched up."

"Thank you." Riza replied, not meeting his eyes. Roy slipped out of the room for a few moments, and came back with a first-aid kit. Silently, he washed her hand and used tweezers to remove shards of glass that were embedded into the cuts. Riza winced and groaned at the pain, but as she had already shown too much of her weak side she tried to ignore it.

"I'm sorry." Roy said, frowning "I'm trying to be gentle. Just bear with it a bit longer."

Riza nodded, and let the Colonel finish up with his work as quietly as she could. Once she was all bandaged up, left to not only take the first-aid kit back to where he had found it, but to also find something for them to do. Riza felt helpless just lying around all day, and she was sure Roy felt the same.

A murderer though. They thought that he was the one killing innocent women. Hadn't they had enough, forcing him to kill in Ishbal? It had taken ages for Roy to accept that he wasn't a heartless murderer, and even now he still had his moments where he would just break down. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.

Riza picked up one of the books Roy had brought with him, and glanced at the cover. With a start, she realized it was a romance novel. Not something he would normally read. Opening the book, she started to read.

It seemed to be a charming tale about a young boy and girl, who grow up and apart gradually. It was set in a strange fictional placed named Ireland, and the boy went to another fictional place named America. Even though she had never heard of these places, Riza immediately knew they were far away from each other.

_'A lot like me and Roy' _her mind unwillingly thought. She pushed those thoughts away, and continued to read.

"It's a good book, isn't it?"

Riza started, and dropped the book. Rushing to pick it up, she bumped her injured hand and let out a small cry of pain. Roy smiled gently, and picked up the book for her.

"Where rainbows end." He said, reading the title pressed into the cover "It's a wonderful book. One of my favourites."

"A romance novel is one of your favourite books?" She couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, don't knock it!" Roy defended "It's actually a very sweet tale of love, loss, separation, betrayal and hope for the future."

"It's good, so far." Riza agreed "I like that place it talks about, Ireland."

"Ireland does sound nice." Roy agreed, and then smiled "Maybe I'll take you someday?"

"It's a fictional place." She laughed weakly "It doesn't exist."

"I can dream." Roy replied.

Riza took the book back, and started to read again. She could see why it was Roy's favourite book, it was all written in notes, letters and emails. He liked that sort of thing.

The next morning came around too soon, and Riza had a hard time waking up Roy. Their train was the earliest one at 4:30am whilst it was dark, so they could slip out without light to show their faces.

"Colonel, wake up!" Riza shook Roy as hard as she could. Whatever she did, he would not wake up.

"Hmm…" He groaned, reaching out and grabbing Riza. With a yelp, she was pulled in towards him and he enveloped her in a sleepy bear hug.

"Go back to bed, Ri-Ri." He mumbled "ten more minutes…"

Riza squirmed and wriggled in his grip until he let go, and then woke him up by jumping on his bed. He crashed to the floor, and Riza ordered him to get changed. Nodding, he started to pull his clothes off. Riza turned around abruptly, and started to get changed herself.

At near to 4am, they were both ready, fed, and downstairs getting into a car to take them to the station. Olivier was saying her goodbyes when the doctor ran out, a letter in her hands.

"Here." She said, tucking it into Riza's hands "Open it when you get to the South."

"Thank you." Riza bobbed her head and then slipped the letter into her pocket. She assumed it was the results of the blood test.

"Are you okay?" Roy asked on the drive to the train station. Riza sighed, and looked at the window.

"I am, I guess." She replied. Roy put his hand on her arm and smiled to her. Riza looked back at him, and smiled softly.

"We'll be fine." He assured her "We'll get through it."

"I think you should worry more about yourself." Riza replied, sighing "I'm not the one wanted for murder."

"That's very true." Roy shook his head.

Roy had all the appropriate false documents that they would need. Even though Olivier had assured them that getting on the train would be a breeze, Riza was getting quite tense as they approached the ticket office.

"Calm down." Roy whispered to her, pulling his scarf closer around his neck. To fit in, they were both wearing their civvies, which for Riza was a rather tight-fitting blouse and knee-length skirt with a large jacket to keep the cold out, and for Roy was a pair of black trousers with a brown shirt and a jacket that matched Riza's. They were supposedly a couple now, and so they were trying to act like one.

"I'm trying to." Riza replied.

Olivier had been right of course, and the guy at the ticket desk was too tired to even check their identification properly. He waved them through, and when they were past Riza let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you cold, Lena?" He asked. Riza looked at him stupidly, and then realized that Lena was the name on her identification. Deliberately, hiking her voice up a few tones, she giggled and replied.

"Not at all, Claude." She replied. Roy's mouth turned up at the corners in amusement "I have you here, after all."

Roy grinned, and took Riza's hand as someone trudged past. Riza blushed and breathed out, her breath visible in the cold.

"You hand is really warm." Roy told her, lacing his fingers with hers.

"Yours is cold." Riza replied, pulling her own scarf up past her mouth to try and hide her blush.

The two of them stood hand in hand until the train pulled into the station. Since it was so early, there were not many people getting on. Roy and Riza had barely sat down when the train started to pull away.

Riza pulled at the bandages on her hand nervously. What if the train was stopped? What if they were caught? There was a hefty punishment for murder, and even if they could prove his innocence he would forever be blacklisted.

"Lena." Roy put his hand on hers "Don't pick at that."

The use of different names was going to take while to get used to. Riza put her hand down.

"Claude." She said, testing the name. It felt foreign in her mouth, strange on her tongue.

"Yes?" Roy looked down at her, surprise on his face.

"Can I have that book, please?" She asked "Where rainbows end?"

"Of course." Roy took the book out of his bag and passed it to her. It took a bit of jiggling about, as since they were playing a married couple they were sat right next to each other.

Riza switched on the little light above her seat, and opened the book. Roy watched her read, her face intent and her eyes flick across the words. Before he could stop it, the earliness of the morning caught up with him, and Roy slipped into slumber.

* * *

~Review Corner~

Dotdotdot: I'll answer your review like this then XD 1) You're most welcome ^^ 2) You're most welcome again! 3) Hehe, thank you! I'll try to keep chapters coming!

MissiB: Fraternization rules suck XD I know and understand why they are there, but it's so frustrating! I'm glad you like the chapter though, so here have another XD


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

_"Roy!" Riza shouted, standing in the open doorway. She was still in her nightclothes, her hair was messy and she was breathing heavily from running from her bedroom._

_"Riza." Roy replied sheepishly. He was half-way out of her front garden, all his belongings slung carelessly into a suitcase. "Good morning."_

_"Don't you dare." She warned, tears pricking at her eyes "Were you just going to leave here? Leave me?"_

_"I have to, Riza." He replied, looking away "I- I joined the military."_

_"You did what?" Riza's voice dropped. She looked at him, disbelief in her eyes. "Do you know how suicidal that is?"_

_"I do." He nodded "But I want to do something."_

_"If you want to do something, stay here!" She cried "You can do something with me!"_

_"Riza-" Roy started._

_"No!" Riza took a slipper off of her foot and threw it at Roy with pin-point accuracy. "We've been best friends for so long! Have you forgotten that day when we met, all those years ago? The day I lost you for the first time? The day you came back, and I thought we were going to be together forever?"_

_"Riza…" Roy rubbed his cheek where the slipper had collided with his face._

_"Don't you get it?" Riza's voice was strangled with her tears "I love you, Roy Mustang! I love you, and I have loved you since the day we met! What the hell happened that that little grubby boy with no parents, no future?"_

_"He grew up, Riza." Roy turned away, the slipper in his hand "He grew up."_

_And with that, he left. He left Riza in the house that they had spent the past four years together in, alone to fend for herself and her father without him there to help._

_It was about two years until he came back. He wished to learn the secrets of the flame, the ones Riza's father had kept hidden. However, whilst Roy was staying, Riza's father suffered an attack, caused by his ill health. He passed away before either of them could do anything. The funeral was a small affair with just the two of them, and the pastor._

_Afterwards, Riza had insisted Roy stay in the house, and not seek lodgings in the village. Roy had no real reason why to refuse. It seemed to be a unspoken rule between then that they would ignore everything that had happened when they had parted, and spend their short time together how they always had._

_Roy ended up staying for a week, in which Riza shared with him her father's research that had been tattooed onto her back. Their parting at the end of the week had been much sweeter than before._

Roy jolted awake. That time he had left had been the first time Riza had been seriously mad at him. Of course, they had had petty little arguments before, but that was the first full-scale argument.

After that, the next time they had seen each other had been on the battle field at Ishbal. Roy looked over at Riza, who had dozed off as well, the book still in her hands.

Roy smiled. Even though she refused to believe it, Riza was beautiful. He reached out, and smoothed her hair. She had left it down, and backcombed it a bit to give it some volume like hairstyles that were popular at that time with Central women. Riza had never bothered with following fashions, but for the sake of fitting in she was following them.

Roy sat and watched Riza sleep for a long time, and by the time Riza's eyes opened, it was sunny outside.

"How long was I asleep?" She asked, looking up at Roy.

"Three hours." He said, looking at his watch "It's almost ten."

"Wow." Riza looked out the window at the greenery speeding past "This is really happening, isn't it?"

Roy nodded slowly, and then flashed a smile at her.

"We're really going to the South to settle down together." Roy glanced to the right, and then landed his eyes back on hers.

"We are." Riza noticed a man watching them from where Roy had glanced "I'm so happy I could marry you, Mr. Fenn."

"As I am glad too, Mrs Fenn." Roy glanced back over. The man had gone back to his own business. He probably had no idea about the two of them, but Roy and Riza could not afford to be too careless.

Riza's stomach grumbled, and she blushed and hugged her arms across her. Roy chuckled.

"I think someone's hungry." He motioned for Riza to get up and let him out "I'll go buy you some food, Lena."

Riza got up and let Roy out, smiling at him.

"Thank you, Claude." She sat back down in the window seat "Make sure to get something nice, please."

"Will do. You wait here, I will be right back." Riza watched Roy walk down the aisle towards the restaurant carriage. When he was out of sight, she turned back to her book.

"He seems like a gentleman." A voice said. Riza jumped, her head snapping back. An old woman had poked her head around from the seat in front of the ones opposite, and was smiling at her.

"He is." Riza replied, remembering to throw her voice up, and to giggle "I'm so glad I married him!"

"You're married, are you?" The old lady nodded approvingly "What a cute couple!"

"Thank you!" Riza smiled at the woman. They made a bit of small talk until Roy got back. The old woman winked at her, and then went back to her own business.

"Seems like you're popular, Lena." Roy smiled, sitting down on the seat Riza had been previously sat in. He pushed a packaged sandwich towards her, along with a cup of what looked like tea.

"Thank you, Claude." Riza replied, opening up the sandwich.

"I hope beef and horse radish is okay." He said "I know how you don't really like it first thing in the morning."

"No, it's fine." Riza blushed, and took a mouthful. It tasted okay.

"Let me have a bite?" Roy asked, one corner of his mouth turning up in a smirk. He knew he was trying his luck, but Riza passed him the sandwich anyway.

"Of course." She smiled, giggling. Roy blushed a little, slightly taken aback. He took the sandwich, and took a rather large bite out of it.

"You might as well have the rest of that one, now." Riza replied, sighing and shaking her head playfully "There's not much of it left."

Roy smiled as if this was his plan all along, and ate the rest of the sandwich in a few bites.

It was pitch black by the time they arrived at the station Olivier had told them to get off at. They were in a tiny rural village going by the name of Feirme.

"We're finally here, Lena!" Roy smiled over at Riza "We can start out lives together!"

"In the morning, Claude." Riza grumbled. They had been traveling for so long, her whole body hurt and she was so grumpy about it.

"Shh, come on now." Roy Picked up all the bags and started to walk down the single platform that made up the station. There was a small office at the end, with only a small vending machine and a ticket office which had long-since closed for the night.

Olivier had sorted them out with a house, as well as the false documents and train tickets. Roy was both amazed and forever grateful that she had been able to set this all up in a single day, without any prior warning.

The two 'newlyweds' made their way down the road, following the directions Olivier had noted down on a piece of paper. After much confusion at the names of certain roads in the dark, they finally arrived at the house that was theirs.

It was quite small, but nothing to sneeze at. It only had a single floor and was quite thin at the front, but it went back a fair way. It was clear no-one had lived there for a while, as the front garden needed a bit of work. There was a wall and a gate around the outside of the house, and Roy swung it open, stepping back for Riza to go through.

"Thank you." She said, walked up the short gravel path to the front door. It was made of wood that had been painted green, the paint peeling slightly in a few areas. There was a small diamond shaped window with frosted glass set in the middle of it, with a brass knocker and door handle. Riza pushed down the small latch on top of the handle, and pushed the door open.

Fumbling around for a light switch, Riza hit it and looked on as the room was filled with light. Clearly the last people to live here had taken most of their belongings, as the only things that remained in the main room were the items in the kitchenette, a dining table with three chairs and a sofa. Walking in, Riza quickly located the bathroom, and switched on the light in there too. It was quite small, but still houses a toilet, sink and bathtub with a shower head.

Continuing down the hallway past the bathroom, Riza came to three different doors. Opening the one in front of her, she saw it was a small laundry room, with a door out to the back garden. Riza wanted to explore the garden, but it was too dark.

The door to the left of the laundry room turned out to be the master bedroom, with a double bed left in it. It had sheets on it, but they smelt suspiciously like damp. The door to the right was another bedroom, with a single bed in it in the same condition as the double bed. Even though only one bed stood in the room, another could easily be put in there.

"Hey, I wanted to carry you over the threshold!" Roy complained as he set the bags down in the main room "No fair!"

"I'm sorry." Riza smiled "But you know we're not really married."

"I know that." He rolled his eyes "But I would've at least liked to pretend it."

"Whatever." Riza replied playfully, and went back into the master bedroom. She stripped the sheets off, and dragged them to the laundry room. After a quick inspection that revealed they had no holes and apart from the smell were in otherwise perfect condition, she started to look for a tap to fill up the washing bowl.

Finally finding on, she started to fill up the wash bucket with water.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked, looking at his watch "It's like, almost midnight."

"Is it really that late?" Riza replied, turning off the tap as the bucket reached its capacity "It doesn't feel like it. And these sheets need cleaning, they smell terrible."

"Can't we just sleep in them tonight?" Roy whined, rubbing his eyes "I'm tired!"

"Do you want to smell like damp?" Riza asked, looking at him. He shrugged.

"I'd rather smell like damp than not get sleep." He replied. Riza sighed, and pushed the sheets towards him.

"Do as you wish." She said, and Roy took the sheets. After a few moments, he had managed to somewhat get the sheets back on the bed.

"Come on, Riza." Roy yawned. He had not slept since the hour or so he got on the train "Come to bed."

"I'm not really your wife." She argued, raising an eyebrow "There is no way I am getting into bed with you."

"I won't do anything, I promise." He said, pulling off his jacket and shoes "I'm too tired. And it will be warmer in here with the both of us."

Even though she had been willing to wash the sheets a few seconds ago, the sight of Roy tucking himself into bed made her fell suddenly really sleepy.

"If you try anything, I will not hesitate to hurt you." She muttered, taking her own jacket and shoes off and climbing into the bed next to Roy. He chuckled, and in no time at all his breathing changed indicating he had fallen asleep. The skirt she was wearing made it uncomfortable to sleep, but to find nightclothes she would have to get up and Riza decided this was too much work, and fell into a deep slumber next to her 'husband'.

_Riza missed Roy with all her heart._

_It had been three months since her father's funeral, and Riza had decided what to do with her life._

_Now, standing at the train station with her own suitcase in hand she started to regret her decision. She had sold most of her father's most expensive possessions, and with the money had enrolled at a military school. If Roy wasn't going to come back, she would go to him._

_No matter where he went, she would follow him._

_The train pulled up, and with no home to return to Riza had no choice but to get on the train. She watched her village disappear from sight as the train left the village, vowing that she would never, ever return to this place._

_Military school was hard, but with her sharp eyesight and quick mind, Riza quickly became top of the class. Everyone was amazed at how good she was at both the theory work and the classroom, and the practical work out on the firing range. Of course there were people who were jealous of her, and tried to bring her down, but Riza seemed immune to almost everything anyone said anymore._

_All she cared about was getting in, and finding Roy._

* * *

_Review Corner!_

_MissiB: Aha, You'll have to wait and see!_

_thunder3swords: Thank you ^^ Usually I'm not very good at this sort of thing, and it took a really long time to plan, so I'm glad it paid off!_

_Dotdodot: Updated! Uncover married couples are the best C:_

_Hawkstang: Updated!_

_Thehellhound: Soon C:_

_Silver Shihouin: Thank you C: You'll find out soon enough ^0^_

_0suitsamus001: Ahh, you'll have to wait and see! Here's an update though C:_


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

Light was shining on Riza's face, and she groaned and rolled over into something warm, and slightly squishy. Nuzzling her face into it and welcoming its warmth, she heard a chuckle.

"Comfy?" Roy asked, and Riza looked up. Realizing she was cuddling up to him, she pulled back quickly and sprang out of the bed.

"N-no!" She stuttered, and walked out the room blushing wildly. She located her bag and pulled out her wash stuff, a towel and clothes for the day.

"I'm sorry for not waking you earlier." Roy said, coming out into the hallway "But you looked so happy just sleeping so I left you be."

"How long were you watching me?" Riza opened the bathroom door, and put her wash bag and towel inside. Roy grinned.

"An hour maybe?" He said, and laughed as Riza's mouth dropped open "It was fine. Your snoring is very relaxing to listen to."

"I do not snore!" Riza said back, flustered. She entered the bathroom again and slammed the door shut. She couldn't be bothered to leave her clothes outside since she was having a quick shower, and instead brought them in with her, dumping them on the cold floor. She spent some time figuring out how to turn on the shower, and then how to get it to a good temperature.

Finally, she slipped off the clothes she had worn since the previous morning, and climbed into the bathtub, standing under the shower. The hot water was so welcoming on her skin, Riza settled in right away. Finding her wash bag, she grabbed her shampoo. Squeezing a small amount out onto her palm, she started to work it through her hair, inhaling the scent of rose deeply. Rose had always been her favourite flower, mostly because of its scent but also because it looked pretty but could prick you if you were not careful.

She washed the suds out of her hair, and then used a body wash. Feeling a lot more clean, she turned the shower off and stepped out. She quickly dried herself with the towel, and put on her clothes for the day. This consisted of a white lacy spaghetti-strap top, with a pink skirt and matching cardigan. She had been given these clothes by Olivier to help her fit into the classic 'Central girl' look. Riza had been confused as to why Olivier would have these sorts of clothes in the first place, but the way she explained it seemed that the men at the garrison had given them to her as a joke present once. They were a little too big for Riza, especially in the bust, but she wore them anyway.

She towelled her hair dry, and then put it up. She stepped out of the bathroom, and watched Roy's mouth open as she entered the main room.

"Bathroom's free." She said, blushing a little under his gaze "You stink. Go and get a shower."

"Yes Ma'am!" He mock saluted, and entered the bathroom with his own wash stuff and clothes. Riza rolled her eyes.

Her stomach grumbled, and she realized with a sigh that there would be no food here. Looking around, Riza decided to make a list of everything that they didn't have, that they would need.

Starting from the living room, she decided they needed to make the place look more 'lived in'. The sofa was in good quality, however Riza decided they would need a throw and some cushions for it. They would also need a rug, a coffee table and some ornaments to go on it. She would also need to get some photo frames, and a camera. With a sigh, Riza realized that all her worldly possessions would be back in her apartment in central, including all the photos of her and her friends. This had including some of her and Roy from a long time ago, which she had treasured.

She noted this all down, along with pots, pans, bowls, and other cooking stuff and cutlery for the kitchen.

Moving on the bedrooms, she decided the sheets for the double bed could stay, but the ones in the single room were beyond repair. It appeared something had chewed many hole in it, which made Riza wary about the issue of mice. Pushing this out of her mind, she decided that the singled bedroom would be hers, and Roy could have the double bed. They would need a wardrobe each, and also bedside tables.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked as he came out of the bathroom in just a pair of trousers. Riza looked at his chest, her eyes trailing down to where Lust had skewered him so years back and he had sealed it with fire.

"It's pretty ugly, isn't it?" He said, rubbing it. He laughed a little "I guess we match, huh?"

Riza smiled softly, and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so."

It was gone ten by the time the two of them got out of the house. There had been a brief panic about where they would get the money to pay for all of the stuff they needed, but Olivier had sorted it out for them somehow. She explained in a note that she had sent pretty much all of the money from their accounts into one joint one, and she had done it so that it could not be tracked. She had made it seem that a relative had passed away, and the newlyweds had been given a large share of the money.

Even though it was quite a small village, there was a large market down near the train station. Just before they arrived, Roy reminded her that she needed to act like Lena, and not like Riza.

"What's the difference?" Riza replied, crossing her arms. Roy smiled.

"Lena _adores _shopping." He said "But Riza _despises_ it."

"Fair point." She shrugged, and then smirked "But you have to remember, Claude _adores _spending all his money on the love of his life!"

"That's good, then." Roy chuckled "Because Roy does too."

Riza blushed, but smiled anyway.

When they arrived in the market, the first shop they came to was a clothes shop.

"Claude!" Riza giggled "Let's see what adorable clothes they have!"

"Fine, fine." Roy laughed, amused at Riza's acting "Let's go in."

They entered the shop, and were greeting by a teenage girl, who couldn't have been more than sixteen at the oldest. As soon as she saw Roy, she blushed and started to giggle.

"Why, hello!" She said, smiling coyly "Welcome to our humble shop! How may we serve you today?"

"We're looking for some clothes." Riza replied in her own ditzy voice. The girl looked at her briefly, and then went back to Roy.

"Yes, it's as my wife says." Roy told the girl "We just got married, and moved here last night."

"Moved here last night?" The girl thought for a second "I know! You must've moved into that old abandoned house!"

"Well, there was defiantly no-one living there, if that's what you mean." Riza replied. The girl laughed, a little too hard.

"You are so funny!" She said. Riza laughed along, a little awkwardly.

"Anyway." Roy cut in "We need to buy some clothes. There are a lot of things to do this morning."

"Of course." The girl looked slightly taken aback at Roy trying to hurry her on, and stepped back, letting the two walk around the shop and pick out things to buy. Roy bought a new pair of shoes, three pairs of trousers and seven shirts, one for every day of the week. Riza allowed Roy to pick out clothes for her, and she ended up with two new pairs of shoes (one flat and one with heels), four skirts, a pair of trousers and a hefty amount of tops, a number Riza had lost count of a long time ago. The price came up so high that Riza was sure the card Roy used to pay was going to reject, but it didn't, and the two left the shop.

"That girl was…" Roy paused trying to find a good word "Interesting. To say the least."

"Tell me about it." Riza rolled her eyes. Roy was carrying all the bags, and even though she could see that he was struggling with them he would not let her carry any.

The next shop a carpenter's, and Riza and Roy bought a coffee table, two bedside tables and two wardrobes. They exchanged small talk with the owner of that shop too, and found out that the house they were living in belong to an old man who had passed away five years ago. The house had stood empty ever since.

The next shop they went to was a home ware one, and again they were greeted by a curious owner who wanted to know who they were.

"Welcome to my store! How can I help?" A large, middle aged woman greeted Roy and Riza as they entered the store. Two small girls, who were clinging to her skirts, looked up nervously.

"We just moved here." Riza explained "We're looking for things to stock our kitchen, and also decorate our home."

"You came to the right place!" The woman laughed loudly. She looked to the two girls "Gemma, Emma, go and fetch some drinks and a snack for our customers. The young lady looks famished, poor thing."

"It's fine, really." Riza cut in "You don't have to."

"It's my pleasure!" The woman replied, a no-nonsense tone to her voice "Think of it as our welcome present to you!"

"Thank you, that's very kind." Roy replied, smiling at the woman "We would be happy to accept your offer."

"Good! My name is Marge, by the way! Marge O'Donnell. The two angels are my two nieces, Emma and Gemma. Their mother passed away not too long ago, the poor duckies."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Riza replied. She felt Roy's arm on her back, and only barely managed not to jump away in shock.

"Our names are Claude and Lena." Roy said, nodding with his head towards Riza when he said her false name "Mr and Mrs Fenn. We got married not too long ago."

"I knew you were together!" Marge squealed like a little girl, which was quite alarming "You both just give off that feeling of an adorable couple!"

Riza smiled to Roy, who smirked back.

After the two girls had brought back their drinks and snacks (Which seemed to be a cup of milk each and a cookie) Riza and Roy made small talk with Marge until they were finished. Riza tried her hardest to be dainty as she ate, but the fact that she had not eaten yet that morning and that her eating patterns were all mixed up meant she wanted to cram it in and then ask for seconds. She somehow managed it though, and once her cup was drained of the sweet liquid she and Roy started to pick things out to buy.

In the kitchen section, they bought two cooking pans (One medium sized, one small), a frying pan, a large mixing bowl, a set of kitchen scales (Just in case Riza wanted to get into cooking, Roy had said), baking trays, cake trays, cupcake trays, a large set of cutlery, dinner plates and cereal bowls, cups, saucers, all the things you would need in a kitchen.

Marge, of course, was ecstatic that these people were buying so much from her store.

In the rest of the store, they bought a load of cushions, a throw for the sofa, seat covers for the dining chairs, photo frames, bed sheets for the little room and little trinkets to go around the house. Riza decided that shopping was a lot of fun.

By the time they left, they were a lot of money lighter and a lot of goods heavier. As they passed the carpenter, a young man ran out of the store and stopped them.

"Hey!" He greeted them "I'm the carpenter's son. My father told me to come and ask you if you want to leave your bags with the things that you ordered, and he can deliver them all together straight to your house. It is a long way to walk with all that stuff."

"It is." Roy said, looking at Riza and then smiling "Thank you very much. How much extra will it be?"

The man looked slightly surprised, and shook his head.

"It will cost no extra." He said, quickly "Think of it as a thank-you for bringing a beautiful woman to this village."

Riza blushed, and even though she could feel Roy tensing up beside her he laughed.

"I see." He said "As long as none of you men-folk try to steal my wife away!"

The carpenter's son laughed as well, and took the bags from Roy. He staggered under their weight, but managed to get them to the van where the rest of their things they had bought from the carpenter himself were.

"Shall we head back?" Roy asked "After getting some groceries, I mean."

"Hold on." Riza said, looking down "I want to go to the pharmacy first."

"The pharmacy?" Roy asked, looking at her "Want me to come too?"

"No, no." Riza looked away "It's fine. I'll meet back up with you in the grocers."

"Well…" Roy thought about it "If you say so."

Riza nodded, and walked off to the pharmacy on her own. She had been thinking about doing this all morning, and now that she was actually going she felt nervous.

As she entered the shop, the shopkeeper greeted her as all the others had. She looked around the shop, and found what she was looking for on a shelf slightly hidden away from the others. Picking up the box, Riza swore her heart was going to burst out of her chest.

She paid for it, asking the shop keeper to put it down on 'Claude's' card and giving them the number of it. She had the box wrapped up in brown paper, and left to go and find Roy.

As he had said, she found him in the grocers.

"What did you buy?" He asked. Riza smiled.

"Nothing." She said. Roy shot her a look, but continued to collect up food items he thought they would need. He bought vegetables, fruits, milk, butter, meat, fish and even some baking supplies.

"You know, I'm not going to bake." Riza said, frowning "I haven't baked in years."

"I can remember your cooking." Roy said as they picked up the last of the things and moved towards the counter "It was so delicious, I always begged you to make more."

"Yes, but that was before." Riza replied. Roy just grinned.

"I have my ways of getting what I want." He said. Riza just rolled her eyes.

"If you say so."

They paid for the groceries, and headed back to the house. Their stuff was delivered by the carpenter a few seconds after they arrived, and the delivery boys (Including the carpenter's son, whose name was James) helped them to get it all into the correct room.

After they left, Riza left Roy decorating, and once she had the kitchen all stocked she started to make a simple lunch of French toast.

"Mmm, that smells so good!" Roy said, putting his arms on Riza's shoulders. She shrugged.

"It's just French toast." She said, but smiled anyway "I'm glad you think it's good."

After the meal, Riza decided it was time. She picked up the brown parcel, and took it into the bathroom. Opening it up, she read the instructions.

_'It's now or never.' _she thought to herself.

* * *

_-Review corner!-_

_MissiB: Here's the next chapter ^0^ I'm sorry for making you wait, and I'm not going to make any excuses so yeah . I hope you like this chapter!_

_Hawkstang__: Ahh, you'll have to wait and see! Thank you and a happy new year to you too ^0^_

_0suitsamus001__: Thank you ^0^ Olivier works in mysterious ways, hehe… I'm glad you liked the chapter!_

_Dotdodoy: (I'm guessing this is Dotdodot XD) It's fine, I'm sorry for being M.I.A ._


	8. Chapter 8

_Woo another chapter! I edited this one today whilst waiting for friends to turn up at my house to watch Wolf Children, if you haven't seen it yet I totally recommend it! I saw it before in Japanese but the English version came out in England just before Christmas and it's really good C:_

_Back to the fanfic, here's another chapter! I was bored last night, and I went through and split up the huge 115-page document I originally had this fanfic on, and it totalled 17 chapters and an epilogue C: so I will hopefully have all of them up ASAP!_

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and remember to point out any mistakes you find as I do not have a beta reader for this ^0^_

_Thanks!_

* * *

_Chapter 8_

"It's now or never." She told herself. She took off her clothes, and ran the shower. After wetting her hair, she opened the packet and took out the inner packet. Ripping it open, she squeezed out the gel inside and started to rub it into her hair.

Hair dye. She had bought hair dye.

It was the kind that you used like shampoo, so simple and easy. You just rub it in, and wash it out.

She hadn't told Roy about it, but she was worried about someone recognizing her whilst she was with him. Anyone looking for them would be looking for a tall dark haired man with a blonde haired woman. If she had dark brown hair, it would throw them off, just a little.

After washing out the dye, Riza stepped out of the shower and dried her body off. She looked at herself in the mirror and gasped.

Her hair was brown. Dark brown. This is what she had wanted.

Roy was going to have a fit.

She gently towelled her hair dry, and then put back on her clothes. Nervous, she stepped out of the bathroom.

"Riza, where does this go?" Roy asked, walking towards the bathroom door, studying the thing he was holding "I swear you had a place you wanted-"

Roy had looked up, and seen her hair.

"Riza." He said slowly "What did you do to your hair?"

"People will be looking for a man with dark hair and a woman with blonde hair." She quickly explained, worry filling her voice "By dying my hair dark brown, they won't suspect-"

"It looks lovely." He said, throwing Riza off.

"What?"

"I mean, the blonde was beautiful. But the brown." He smiled "It looks lovely."

"Thank you." Riza blushed "I thought you would be mad."

"I'm a little upset you didn't tell me." Roy said "I could've helped you with it."

"Like I was going to let you in whilst I was showering!" Riza snorted. Roy smirked.

"I have my ways of getting what I want." He repeated his earlier statement. Riza threw a towel at him, and took the thing he was holding. It was a small chicken statue.

"It's going on the coffee table." She said, walking out to the main room and putting it down in the middle of the table. "There! It looks much more lived-in now."

"What, just from the chicken?" Roy asked, amused. Riza shook her head.

"No, from everything else." Riza gave him a playful push.

"Hey, this is our house now, right?" He asked. Riza nodded. "It's been so long since we had a house together."

"I know." Riza replied "Though last time we weren't hiding out because you had been framed for murder."

"That's true." Roy laughed weakly. Riza yawned.

"I'm really tired." She said. Roy grinned.

"That's because you were up most of the night trying to wash my sheets." Roy replied. Riza rolled her eyes.

"Well, they're still not washed. I hope you enjoy smelling of damp again!" And with that, Riza went to her own room. Roy had already put the sheets on her bed, and feeling too tired to get into any sort of nightclothes, she fell into the bed and slept in her clothes.

Roy gently pushed open her bedroom door, and smiled at her, shaking his head slowly. Riza seemed to be so tired these days.

He worried about her, of course he did. She hadn't been feeling well, and then he had just uprooted her to the cold north, and then essentially kidnapped her to the South. She seemed to be fine with it all, but he always wondered what she really thought. If there was anything he had learnt from spending time with her, it was that Riza hid anything that was wrong with her. And usually, she hid it well.

He left her to sleep, and went to his bedroom to fetch the sheets to wash. He dragged them through to the laundry room, filled the bucket up, and set them to wash with the automatic washer that had been left in there.

Whilst he was getting a drink, there was a knock at the door. Wondering who it could be, Roy opened the door.

"Hello!" a bubbly voice cried. Roy sighed. It was the girl from the clothes shop.

"Good evening." Roy replied politely "What brings you here?"

The girl giggled.

"I wanted to bring you a house warming present." She said, holding out a basket of apples. She pushed her way forwards into the house, and looked around.

"Where's your wife?" The girl asked. Roy was a little bit annoyed at the girl just pushing her way in, but he didn't want to make any enemies on the first day.

"She's asleep." Roy said, stiffly "She was exhausted. I can wake her up though, if you want."

"No, no!" The girl sat down on the sofa "It's fine. Let her sleep. It's even better if it's just the two of us."

"Right." Roy shifted awkwardly. He still had no idea what this girl's name was.

"It's a nice place you've got here." She said, glancing around the place as if it was the most horrible place she had ever seen "Very… quaint."

"Thank you." Roy replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. He really had no idea what else to say.

"My name's Lacey, by the way." Lacey giggled "I'm eighteen years old." She fluttered her eyelashes "And totally single."

"I have a wife." Roy said. Lacey laughed.

"And she's asleep." Lacey stood up and shimmied over to Roy. He swallowed.

"And she's not asleep." A voice from the hallway said. An annoyed voice.

"Ahh, Lena!" Roy said, turning to Riza, thanking her with his eyes.

"Mrs Fenn!" Lacey forced a few tears out of her eyes "Your husband tried to flirt with me!"

"Bad Claude." Riza playfully smacked Roy. She turned to Lacey.

"I think it's time you go." Riza said slowly. She noticed the apples in the basket, and smiled "Thanks for the apples, though. I'm sure they'll make a beautiful pie."

Lacey did not say another word, and left the house. As soon as the door was shut, Riza started to laugh.

"How much of that did you hear?" Roy asked, the corners of his mouth hiking up into a small grin.

"Quite a bit of it. That girl's voice is enough to wake the dead."

"I'll agree to that!"

"I wonder what she thought of my hair." Riza fingered her brown locks.

"I bet she was jealous." Roy smiled "It still looks beautiful."

"You're such a charmer, you know that right?" Riza smiled up at him.

"I know." Roy grinned back down. "By the way, were you serious about making an apple pie?"

"If you want one," Riza sighed "I guess I can try and make one. But tomorrow now."

"That's fine by me!" Roy smiled "By the way, do you want me to make dinner? You can just relax. Maybe get into some nightclothes."

"Yes, please." She smiled "I haven't slept in my actual nightclothes for so long."

"Okay." Roy walked over to the kitchen, and started to go through it "How does poached salmon sound?"

"Can you even make that?" Riza looked up, surprised. Roy frowned.

"Poached salmon is where you literally cook salmon in milk until it is cooked." His frown turned into a smirk "I would be shocked if I did not know how to make it."

Riza grinned at him "Just please don't set fire to my new kitchen."

"I'll try not to."

Riza laughed, and went to get changed into her nightclothes. Roy managed to cook the salmon without setting fire to anything, and pretty soon they were sat down to eat.

"This is actually pretty good." Riza decided as she took a bite. Roy had served it with some salad, which Riza also liked.

"I'm glad you have so much faith in me." Roy pulled a face.

"Well, if you want to cook from now on, feel free." She laughed as Roy's stuck his tongue out like a child.

For a few moments, the only noise that filed the room was that of their cutlery on their plates. Roy suddenly remembered something.

"Riza." He asked. Riza looked up.

"Yeah?"

"What was that letter the Briggs doctor gave you?" Riza put down her fork.

"I don't know." She said, getting up "To be honest, I had forgotten all about it. I'll open it now."

Riza located her jacket, and quickly found the letter. She knew it would contain the results of the blood test, or at least she was certain it would. She brought it back to the table, and sat down.

"Come on, the suspense is killing me." Roy joked, putting another forkful of salmon into his mouth "Open it!"

Riza pulled a face at him, and then opened the seal on the envelope. She pulled out the paper, and read the note.

Her heart missed a beat. This could not be true.

Without warning, tears started to stream down her face. Roy dropped his fork.

"Riza." He said "Riza, what's wrong? What does it say?"

Riza was not listening to him though. Suddenly, she was doing calculations in her head. No, no. no.

"Roy." She said, her voice barely audible.

"Yes?" He asked, worry clear in his eyes.

"I need you to go down to the pharmacy." She said, her voice cracking "And get me as many pregnancy tests as you can."

Roy went white as a sheet.

"P-pregnancy tests?" He repeated. The word sounded wrong, bad.

"Please." Riza begged. Roy got up, and found his jacket.

"I'll be right back." He promised, and headed out. Riza didn't feel like eating anymore. She just sat there and cried.

'_Pregnant.' _The word swum around in Roy's mind. _'Pregnant. Riza, his Riza, pregnant. Who's the father? Who could be the father?'_

He tried to think. Was there anyway it could be him? No, he hadn't even kissed Riza, let alone do any of _those _sorts of things. He felt sad, and perhaps a bit angry knowing that Riza, _his_ Riza might be pregnant with another man's child.

When he arrived at the pharmacy, he quickly bought three pregnancy tests, just to make sure. The person at the counter looked at him knowingly with a wink. The news that the new woman in town was pregnant would be spread around like wildfire by the next morning.

Roy practically ran back to the house to find Riza curled up on the sofa sobbing. He handed her the tests, and not knowing what else to do pulled her into a hug.

"It'll be okay." Roy said, trying to comfort her "It will be okay, I promise you."

"You don't know that." Riza sobbed "I didn't even know I had let anyone do that yet. I don't _remember_."

Roy's hug tightened, and he let Riza sob into his shoulder.

"I need to take the tests." Riza finally said, pulling away. Her eyes were puffy from crying, her face red. Roy just wanted to hold her until she felt better.

"Okay." He said, watching he go to the bathroom and lock the door.

Inside the bathroom, Riza opened each little box with shaky hands. The paper the Briggs doctor had given her reckoned she was about fifteen weeks along. That would make sense, what with her periods not coming. Riza had put it down to stress, but clearly it was not that.

She did what she needed to do, and set the tests on the counters. They were all of the 'pee-on-a-stick-and-wait-ten-minute' varieties, and so she got up and left the bathroom.

Roy was still sat on the sofa, and Riza silently walked over and set next to him, putting her head on his shoulder. Without thinking, Roy immediately put his arms around her.

"It will be okay." He repeated "I swear on my life, it will be okay."

The two sat there, Riza's head on Roy's shoulder and Roy's arm around Riza's body. She seemed so little and vulnerable to him at this moment, it was hard to imagine her as anything else.

They sat there like that until the ten minutes was up. Riza looked at the clock, and forced herself to stand up and go to check. She prayed with all her might that they would be negative, that the blood test had been wrong.

Clearly the Gods were not shining on her this night. All three of the tests came back positive.

There was no doubt about it.

Riza Hawkeye, Lena Fenn, was pregnant.

"How could this happen?" Riza cried, fresh tears running down her face as she dropped to the floor. "It's not fair! It's not fair!"

Roy came into the bathroom, almost running. He did not speak, just crouched down next to Riza and pulled her into his arms again.

"Shh, Riza. Shh." He soothed her, rocking her slightly like a small child "I'm here for you. I'll support you."

"It's not fair." She repeated, the shout gone from her voice "It's just not fair."

"I know, I know." Roy replied.

"You don't know!" Riza cried, pushing him away. "I'm a _murderer_, Roy! I take life, I don't make it! How the hell am I supposed to look into my child's eyes, knowing that I have taken the lives of other people's children? How can I do that?"

"I… I don't know." Roy said, turning away.

"And I've ruined your dream." She cried again "I promised I would follow you."

"Shh." Roy said, and put his arms around her again. She struggled, but he did not let go. He just held her, and let her cry it out. Her cries turned into sobs, and her tears started to stop.

"Please, take me to bed." She whispered into his ear. Roy shuddered, and scooped her up. Gently, he walked with her in his arms to her bedroom, and laid her down on the bed. Carefully pulling the covers back up over her, he resisted the temptation to crawl under the covers with her and hold her until she stopped crying completely.

Roy stood and watched her for a few moments before he was sure Riza was asleep. He turned to leave, but as he got to the door he heard a small voice.

"Roy." Riza said. Roy jumped slightly at the use of his first name coming from Riza's mouth.

"Yeah?" He asked, a blush working its way up his neck.

"This baby." She said "I don't know whose it is, but I hope it's yours."

Roy blushed bright red, and he beamed at her.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He said, before stepping out and closing the door to let her sleep.

* * *

_~Review corner~_

_0suitsamus001__: I have all this written up on my computer already XD As I said, there's 17 chapter and an epilogue… so yeah XD Plus hehe I feel bad deceiving everyone on the whole box from the chemist thing haha XD_

_MissiB__: (You go full-fangirl gurl) Haha I feel really bad about deceiving everyone now omg XD And I don't know about everywhere but my village is like that, everyone is allways friendly and says hi even if you're a stranger ^0^ So it's kinda normal for me XD_

_Hawkstang__: Haha I had to cut the chapter off to leave you all in suspence XD Though I hope you like this chapter too!_

_Dotdodot: I knew it was you though, so that's gotta be something C: I hope this chapter is okay ^0^_

_WatchingForStars__: Thank you very much C:_


	9. Chapter 9

_(Right now I'm waiting for my friend to arrive at my house so I'm editing chapters ahh)_

_Well as I edit this I am listening to 9 Crimes by Damien Rice, and it is giving me such Royai feels XD It's a good song though, so I digress XD_

_Most of this chapter was written as a dare from a friend to have a 'Dinner out' (Spoilers!) scene, so it seems very out of place so I'm sorry about that aha ._

_But here's a chapter! If you find any mistakes, please do not hesitate to note me C: Thanks!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

_Chapter 9_

_After Roy had left after the funeral, it had been years until they saw each other again. Riza had worked her way through military school, and somehow found herself on the battle field. _

_Riza looked down from her post. There was a man down there, and Ishbalan. Swallowing, Riza lined up her gun with the man. Keeping her eyes open, she pulled the trigger. Down on the ground, the man jolted, and sunk to the floor._

_Riza could no longer feel the guilt of killing within her. She was numb to the feeling, as she was numb to most feelings now. _

_The bell sounded for a break, and Riza felt like a schoolgirl again. If she closed her eyes, it was possible to see her ten-year-old self, pigtails down her back and missing front teeth running off to school with a grin on her face. _

_It was impossible now, to smile. Riza wrapped up her gun, and headed out of the tower where she had been sniping. Moving quickly, but always keeping an eye out for Ishbalans Riza made her way to the safe area._

_Well, the safe area for her and other Amestrians, anyway._

_When she was there, Riza quickly made herself busy finding hot water to drink. The sand of Ishbal made her throat dry, and she really needed a drink. As she walked towards a fire to heat up the water she had, she stopped._

_There was a man by the fire. He was tall, with dark hair. Riza's heart skipped a beat. Could it be?_

"_Hey!" She called to him. She needed to see. She needed to see if it was him._

_The man turned around, and she froze._

_It was him. It was Roy._

"_Can I help you?" He said. Clearly he did not recognize her. Riza pulled down her hood, and looked him in the eyes. His eyes widened._

"_Riza?" He asked. She nodded._

"_It's been a while, hasn't it?"_

After that, Riza had had a nightmare. She had dreamt that Roy was dying, and there was nothing she could do to save him. She had dreamt that he was gone, gone forever, and there was nothing she could do. She had dreamt that they had come for him, taken him from the house they now shared and executed him for murder.

Waking up in a cold sweat, Riza slung herself out of bed. After feeling a bit disorientated for a few moments, she remembered where she was and quickly made her way through to Roy's bedroom. She walked up to his bed, saw him there asleep, and sighed in relief.

He was still there. Riza reached out a trembling hand, and put it on his cheek. Roy sprang awake, and looked up at her. Riza pulled her hand away, startled.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked his voice musky from sleep. Riza blushed.

"I had a nightmare." She said. Roy looked at her, his eyes knowing.

"Oh." He said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Riza shook her head.

"Ishbal." She said. And he understood.

Roy reached out, and pulled Riza into hug. He did it to show her he cared, but he also did it because he loved the feeling of her soft skin against his.

"Can I…" Riza started. Roy stroked her back "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Of course." Roy replied without a moment of hesitation. He pulled back the covers, and she climbed in next to him.

"If I have a nightmare and kick you in your sleep, wake me up." Riza said. Roy laughed.

"Okay. I will. Promise."

The next morning, they were awoken by a knocking at the door.

"Who could it be at this time?" Roy grumbled, climbing out of bed. He looked over at Riza who was still asleep, and blushed a little.

"It's just hormones." He told himself. He didn't want to answer the door in case it was that ditzy girl Lacey again, but he also couldn't bring himself to wake Riza up. Sighing, he walked to the main room and pulled open the front door.

"Good morning!" An over-excitable voice chuckled. Roy internally sighed in relief- it was only the home-ware store owner, Marge. She was holding a rather large brown parcel, but she still managed to give Roy a friendly clap on the back.

"We heard about your wife!" She said "Congratulations on the baby!"

"T-thank you." Roy said, smiling. He quickly thought. What would a father say at this moment? "We're very excited about it."

"As you should be!" Marge laughed. Roy smiled. This wasn't that hard.

"Do you want me to go and wake Lena?" He asked. Marge shook her head.

"No, no! Let the poor pet sleep. I'm sure she's exhausted! Getting married, moving down here, and now a baby on the way! Which reminds me!"

Marge pushed the brown parcel she was holding towards Roy, who took it.

"Thank you." He said "I'll leave it for Lena to open."

"You're most welcome!" Marge laughed again. "Anyway, I must dash! The store opens soon, and the girlies will need feeding! If you need anything, anything at all don't hesitate to call!"

"I'll keep that in mind." Roy smiled "Thank you."

"Toodle-loo!" Marge waved her pudgy fingers and bounded down the front path.

"Goodbye!" Roy said back, but it did not seem as if she had heard him.

"She's a nice lady." Riza said, coming into the main room with a yawn.

"She is." Roy agreed, turning to Riza "Good morning."

"It's a nice morning today." Riza said, looking out the window. Roy nodded.

"It is." He said "What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong." She smiled "I just think it's a nice day, is all. By the way, thank you for last night."

"It's no problem." Roy replied. "I'm glad I could've been of help."

"You were of a lot of help." Riza grinned, which made Roy blush.

"Marge dropped round a present." He quickly said, changing the subject. He passed the parcel to her "Here, you can open it."

"Thank you." Riza took the parcel, and sat down. She carefully took the wrapping off, and paused.

"What is it?" Roy asked. Riza looked up at him and smiled.

"Baby clothes." She said, a slight strain to her voice "I'm not even showing much yet, and they're baby clothes."

"Not showing much?" Roy asked. Riza nodded, put the parcel to one side and stood up. Blushing a little, she pulled up her shirt, and turned to the side. She had a little bit of a bump, just enough to stick out a tiny bit.

"Wow." Roy smiled, a little bit awestruck "Can I… Can I touch it?"

Riza was a little surprised, but she nodded anyway.

"Sure." Riza blushed a little bit more, and Roy walked over and put his hand on her stomach.

"Wow." He said "It feels so… strange."

"Your hands are freezing." Riza squirmed "They're always so cold!"

"I can't help it." He grinned up at her. "It's got something to do with flame alchemy, I can't help it."

Roy took his hand away from Riza's stomach, and she let her shirt fall back down.

"I better find somewhere to put these clothes." Riza said, smiling. She took two onesies, a few pairs of vests, some nappy cloths and socks out of the box, and took them down to her room. Roy followed her, and watched as she opened one of the draws to the wardrobe and put them inside.

"I'll make breakfast." Roy suddenly said "eggs on toast is okay, right?"

Riza turned and smiled at him, nodding.

"Eggs on toast sounds amazing, thank you very much."

The week flew by, and it seemed as if the village had accepted 'Claude' and 'Lena'. Another day started, and Riza was rudely awoken by Roy rushing into her room, a smiled on his face.

"Riza, what is the date today?" He asked. Riza grumbled, and thought about it.

"It's the 16th of May." She said, confused. Realization dawned on her and her mouth made an 'O' shape.

"Happy birthday!" Roy smiled. Riza grinned.

"I had forgotten all about it." She admitted "Wow, I'm so old."

"You're thirty." Roy laughed "That hardly qualifies as old."

"It so does!" Riza replied "It also means I've spent half my life with you practically."

"We have." Roy replied "Spend most of our lives together, I mean. Though I do hope, that with you as Lena Fenn, this means I am allowed to take you out and spoil you rotten."

Grimacing, Riza nodded.

"Fine." She said "If you want to."

That afternoon, Roy took Riza out. He had told her that they were going out for afternoon tea, and then for a shopping trip where he was going to buy her loads of things.

Riza, still grumbling, had allowed Roy to take her on his arm to the most expensive restaurant in town.

"We can't eat here!" Riza protested quietly as they stood outside "I am hardly dressed for this!"

Roy studied her slender body in the tight skirt and lacy top she was wearing. He smiled.

"You look lovely." He said "You can even see a tiny outline of a baby belly."

"Shut up." Riza looked away "I do not have a baby belly."

"You do to." Roy insisted, and they entered the restaurant. Feirme, even though it was a tiny village was famous for this restaurant, and even really high ranking military personnel brought their families her when they were on holiday. This was another reason why Riza thought it was a bad idea to go here, but Roy just laughed it off.

As soon as they entered, their coats were taken and they were lead to a table. Roy ordered a set meal, not allowing Riza to see the prices and balk.

"That was low of you." She muttered. Roy just smiled.

"Come on; look as if you're enjoying yourself." He said in his sweet-talk voice "I am taking my darling wife out for afternoon tea on her birthday, after all."

"Thirty though!" She exclaimed "I'm too old for all this."

"Thirty." Roy replied, pointing to himself "Never too old for anything."

"Apart from the kiddie rides at Central amusement park." Riza said with a smirk. Roy rolled his eyes.

"It was once!" He said "I was a little drunk! And Hughes said it was good ride."

"It was a train ride that lasted two minutes that went round in a circle." Riza replied, laughing a little "They called me to come and collect you. It was my day off."

"Yes, but you came anyway."

"I did come, but only because I thought you were going to try and bail yourself out in your drunken stupor and accidentally burn down half of Amestris."

"I was not that drunk!"

"And at only four in the afternoon, too." Riza looked away, sighing playfully "My husband is an alcoholic!"

"I am not!" Roy argued "And you took me back to your house afterwards."

"Only because I was in the middle of cleaning and I couldn't leave you on your own for reasons I previously stated."

"You made me a cup of tea."

"You sprawled out on my kitchen floor crying about how you wanted to ride the train again. I made you the tea to get you up."

"You let me shower."

"You tried to get in the shower with your clothes on, and I had to come and get you out and explain to you that you needed to get undressed. You then made jokes of a sexual nature towards me."

"I was not that drunk!"

"You clearly were." Riza smirked "And your drunken jokes don't even make any sense."

Roy opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment the food arrived. The set meal for afternoon tea had been a pot of rose tea with a millionaire's shortbread cheese cake. The waiter served them, and then left again just as quickly as he had come.

"To you." Roy grinned, holding up his cup. Riza rolled her eyes and held up her own.

"To my oldness." She replied.

After the (very delicious) meal, Roy dragged Riza around a multitude of shops, getting her to pick out things that she liked so he could buy them for her; a beautiful dress, a pair of shoes, a necklace with a locket charm, a set of rose bath salts, and even a little dog statue to remind her of Black Hayate, which made her a little bit sad that she couldn't see him.

They also popped in to see Marge, and upon hearing it was Riza's birthday she offered anything in her shop as a gift. Riza politely declined, as she had already given them too much.

Of course, by the time they had finished shopping word had spread of Riza's birthday. As they stood in the square, Lacey ran up to them and greeted Roy with much enthusiasm and Riza with less enthusiasm.

"Hey, Claude and Lena!" She said. "We heard it was your birthday." She looked at Riza like she was unhappy about it "So we decided to throw you the proper Feirme birthday celebration!"

"Oh, that's so nice of you." Riza forced herself to smile nicely. "What exactly is a proper Feirme birthday celebration?"

"We'll make you a cake." Lacey said "And then, there will be music and dancing in the square. We're a small village, so we do it for almost everyone's birthday."

"Do I have to dance?" Roy asked Riza. Riza laughed.

"You do have two left feet." She said "Probably best you don't."

"Oh, I have to right feet." Lacey said, attempting to flirt "You can dance with me."

"It's okay, thank you." Riza said for Roy, making sure to keep a smile on her face. She felt her own arm slip through Roy's "We'll dance together."

"Whatever you say!" Lacey turned and went back to her store. Roy looked down at Riza, and amused look on his face.

"I didn't know you could get jealous." He said. Riza snorted.

"I only get jealous of stupid girls flirting with my husband on my birthday." She said. Roy laughed.

"But I'm not really your husband." He said quietly "Though you still get jealous as if I really am!"

"Oh, be quiet." Riza looked away. She did not remove her arms from Roy's.

"Let's go back to the house." Roy said softly "We have to get you ready for tonight."

Back at the house, Riza discovered that Roy had a secret stash of make-up and hair products.

"Why the _hell _do you have all that?" she asked, her face the picture of confusion.

"Madame Christmas used to get me to help with doing the girls up some nights." He said "When I was thirteen or so. If I did a good job, she let me stay behind the bar at night."

"No wonder you're such an alcoholic." Riza sighed.

"I am not!" He replied "I'll have you know I have not drunk alcohol since I married you!"

"We're not really married though, remember? So that statement is void." Riza looked back at the make-up and hair products "That aside, why did you bring that all the way from Central?"

Roy shrugged "I always hoped I would get a chance to use it on you."

"You're an idiot, Roy Mustang." Riza said, exasperated "A pure, total and utter idiot."

"Shush up and let me make you even more beautiful than you all-ready are."

Riza grumbled, but let Roy curl her hair. He was surprisingly good at it, knowing exactly when the curlers were hot enough to use and exactly how big the sections of hair needed to be and exactly how long he needed to hold it in her hair so that it curled properly, but did not burn. It took a while, but once Roy had curled it all he pinned back certain curls so that it did not fall in her face, which he knew she hated. Looking in the mirror, Riza had to admit he had done a good job.

After that, he took out a foundation which he spread on her face. Riza resisted the urge to pull away at the gooey liquid, and sat through the ordeal. Next was pressed powder, then eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara and then a lipstick. Stepping back and admiring his handwork, he nodded.

"Well, you look a bit like one of Madam Christmas's prostitutes, but I always thought they were hot so I guess it's okay."

Riza pulled a face "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Right, now do my make-up." Roy said. Riza looked at him as if he had gone off his rocker.

"Are you serious?" She asked. Roy looked at her face, and laughed.

"No, I'm not serious. Come on, let's get you into your dress and then I can worry about looking presentable myself."

"I can dress myself!" Riza replied. Roy shrugged, and grinning disappeared into his own room to get changed. Riza shook her head, and went to go and put her dress on. The dress had been a present from Roy a long, long time ago and she took it everywhere because she hoped one day there would be a chance to wear it.

Today was this day, and she carefully got into it, and zipped up the back. It was a bit tight, and Riza thanked the fact that the fabric was slightly stretchy. It was red with gold accents, with a low neckline and knee-length skirt. The back of the dress covered her own back, and Riza liked this because it did not show off her tattoo.

She admired herself in the mirror a little longer, surprised at the girl who was staring back. Instead of Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, a terrifying woman who, when she had had short hair, had been mistaken for a man more often than not magically transformed into Lena Fenn, a bubbly, woman from Central who had married the love of her life and re-located into a 'cute' rural village to start a family.

"Wow Riza, you look amazing." Roy said, appearing behind her "I knew you would wear that dress someday."

"That's a lie, you bought it because you thought my 'boobs would look good in it'." She smirked "Or is that not what you said?"

"Well, I guess I was right." He said, ducking as Riza attempted to hit him "But I digress. You look beautiful."

"If you say so." Riza replied, looking away to hide her smile.

A little later, Lacey came to collect them. She took Roy's arm, but he politely shrugged her off and took Riza's arm in his. Lacey scowled, and Riza just smiled at her innocently.

Still grumbling to herself, Lacey led them to the square. It had only been a few hours, but there was a table with a large cake on it and a lot of people milling around, some just chatting and others dancing to the music a violinist was playing.

A few people turned to Riza as she arrived and wished her a quick happy birthday before turning back to resume talking or dancing. Roy held out his free hand to her.

"Care to dance?" He asked. Riza shook her head.

"I can't dance." She said "You know that."

Roy smiled. When they had attended school together back in Riza's hometown, there had been a school dance one year and Roy had taken Riza. The evening had started off well, Riza looked nice and Roy brushed up pretty well and they had perhaps stolen a tiny drink from her father's private supply of spirits.

As that evening had progressed, the warm glow from the drinks had started to fully kick in and Roy wanted Riza to dance with him. Riza knew she could not dance, and one time before she had almost sent seven people to the emergency room doing the Macarena. Never again.

The evening had ended pretty abruptly with Riza storming out in tears and Roy being yelled at by Riza's best friend. Roy had eventually ran after her and walked her home, where they had gotten a telling off from Riza's father, who even with his failing eyesight had been able to tell they had been at his spirits.

"Yes, but Lena." Roy said, taking Riza over to the centre of the square "I can dance, and I can also teach you how to dance."

Rolling her eyes, Riza huffed.

"Fine." She said "I'll indulge you. Just this once."

Roy put Riza's left hand on his shoulder, and took her right in his left. He placed his own left hand on her waist.

"Just follow my feet." He said, and started to move slowly so Riza could follow. She was a little clumsy at first, and a few times just narrowly missed stepping on Roy's toes. However, she started to get it eventually.

"You're doing really well!" Roy said, smiling "Why have we not done this before?"

"Don't talk!" Riza commanded, breathless "I'll lose my rhythm!"

Roy laughed, and they continued to dance until the music ended. Roy let go of Riza, and they realized the townspeople were clapping them.

"That was beautiful!" One of them shouted "You dance like a star!"

"Do another dance!"

"One more!"

Riza blushed, and turned to Roy. He held out his hand again with a smile.

"I told you." He said "You can dance."

The party carried on late into the night, and Riza danced until she could not feel her legs. She took a seat at one of the tables that had been set out, and cake and food were distributed around, as well as some presents. Riza enjoyed herself immensely; they had been not longer than a week, and she hardly knew any of these people yet they were treating her like an old friend.

Roy had to almost carry Riza home at the end, as she was so tired. Someone helped him and brought Riza's presents home, which Roy was very grateful for because he would've struggled to carry it all home himself.

Alone with Riza in the house, he woke her up so that she could change into her nightclothes, and take off her makeup. After that, they both fell into a deep sleep, Riza in her room and Roy just across the hall in his.

* * *

_~Review corner~_

_BorealisBlazing: Haha XD I was hopeing it would give that kind of reaction XD Thank you ^0^_

_MissiB: Ahh you will have to wait and see but I promise it will (hopefully) make sense ^0^ And I have heard of it (From the same person who introduced me to FMA, haha) but I haven't got round to watching it yet XD Thank you and please don't kill me aha XD_

_Dotdodot: Thank you! Fixed it C: And babies are made by… holding hands and chanting a special rhyme, right? XD It will make sense, I promise C:_

_Hawkstang: Ahaha, you will have to wait and see! Thank you though and I hope this chapter was okay C:_

_0suitsamus001: Yeah C: I quite liked typing it all out before uploading it, it means I can update it as I want ^0^ But yes you will have to wait and see and I promise it will make sense C: Thank you!_

_Silver Shihouin: He is pretty sweet isn't he ^0^_


	10. Chapter 10

_Hi hi!_

_So it's been a busy two weeks! I went back to school, got a butt-ton of homework and also applied to college! (That's college as in British college, not American college XD)_

_And I've also been planning a trip to Paris with one of my friends! So I've been pretty busy!_

_But now I have a few spare minutes, so I'm editing chapters! I won't be putting in a review corner though._

_And also, please note me to any mistakes ^0^ I don't have a beta, so It's just a one-woman team here!_

_Enjoy C:_

* * *

_Chapter 10_

Three months later, Riza and Roy were still living in Feirme. Riza, who was now twenty-seven weeks pregnant and showing it, had stopped rebelling against it and settled into the daily life of a pregnant housewife. Roy, who had gotten himself a job down on a local farm, was working hard earning them both a decent wage.

"How are you feeling, Riza?" Roy asked as he sat down next Riza, who was sewing yet another baby outfit on the sewing machine Roy had bought a while back. Riza looked up at him.

"I feel like an elephant." She said, grimacing when Roy started to chuckle "It's not funny."

"I'm sorry; I just never thought I would ever get to see you like this."

"I wasn't planning on it either, at least not until you had become Führer and everything." Riza went back to her sewing.

"Until I became Führer?" He echoed "You mean, you would after?" Roy's heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah." She realized what Roy was thinking, and hit him lightly "Not especially with you! I just wouldn't be able to continue watching out for you if I was a mother." After Riza had said this, she went quiet.

"What is it?" Roy asked. Riza shook her head.

"I'm going to have to resign." She said "I can't continue on in the military if I'm a mother."

"Yes you can!" Roy replied "You can put the baby in day care."

"That's not the point." Riza glared at him "If I'm going to bring a life into this world, I'm going to look after it myself. Plus, if I was killed, what would happen then? I don't know who the father is; the child would be taken as an orphan. You of all people should know that."

Roy flinched, and Riza put a hand up to her mouth.

"Roy, I'm sorry." She said "I didn't mean to say that. It just came out."

"How did you find out?" He said, standing up and turning his back to her "Who told you?"

"I overheard." She said, looking at the back of his head "I was in the office and someone outside mentioned it."

Roy sighed. It was no secret about his parents, but he had at least wanted to be the one to tell Riza. His mother had been military personnel, and from his understanding she had slept with a higher-up to gain a promotion. Because of the fraternization rules, when his mother found out she was pregnant she told authorities that the father was unknown. Roy had been born, and as soon as his mother's maternity leave was over he was shoved into day care. Not too long after his 2nd birthday, there had been an accident and Roy's mother had lost her life.

Roy had then been sent away to the countryside to go to an orphanage there. His real father knew that he had been born, and he also knew that Roy's mother was dead. When his own time came six years later, he told his sister of his son. Which then lead to Roy being adopted.

"I don't remember that far back." Roy said. Riza got to her feet, and hugged Roy. He smiled. "It seems that our unspoken code is that when the other is sad, scared or lonely we hug. Am I right?"

"You are very right." Riza replied, burying her face into Roy's back. He smelt nice, sort of smoky despite hardly using his alchemy the entire time they were here, mixed with the smell of washing powder and also his deodorant, which smell could only be described as manly.

"Come on, let's not get so down!" Roy said, walking out of Riza's embrace and turning around "I have a celebration planned for tonight. After all, it is our supposed three-month wedding anniversary."

"A celebration?" Riza raised an eyebrow "What kind of celebration?"

"You'll have to see."

And see, she did. Later that night, when it was dark, Roy banished Riza to her bedroom. She sat there, wondering what on earth that man was doing.

She could smell something cooking, and whatever it was it smelt really nice. Fighting the urge to go out and see what was happening, she jumped when Roy knocked on the door and then opened it.

"You might want to wear something warm." He said "We're eating outside."

"Outside?" Riza replied "But It's freezing!"

"Hence why I am telling you to wrap up warm." Roy grinned and left the room. Riza exhaled, and picked out the warmest outfit she could fit into at the moment in time. It was a long dress with a gathered bodice, which allowed it to stretch over her baby bump. The fabric of the dress was quite thick, lilac, and decorated with little white butterflies. With this, she located a long-sleeve white t-shirt to wear underneath it, and her jacket to wear over it.

After what felt like forever, Roy came and got her.

"You look beautiful." He said, smiling. Riza looked at him, and blushed a tiny bit.

"You don't look too bad yourself." She replied. Roy was wearing an ironed dress-shirt, along with a pair of black trousers.

"I do scrub up quite well, don't I?" He laughed, and took Riza's arm in his. "Come on, we're not going too far."

It turned out 'not too far' was their garden, so really 'not too far'. Roy instructed Riza to close her eyes, and carefully guided her outside and into a chair. She could smell food in front of her, along with a slightly strange tangy smell of chemicals.

"Open your eyes!" he said. Riza did, and gasped.

In their garden, Roy had set up a white wrought iron table with two chairs. There was a tablecloth over it, and on top of it was a whole three-course roast, complete with a soup for starters and a slice of apple pie for dessert. Around the table were little potted trees, each with fairy lights in the shape of flowers that gave off an ethereal glow. It looked amazing. Roy sat down beside her.

"For starters, I have prepared a pea and garden mint soup." He said this in his poshest voice, which made Riza giggle "As for the main course, we have roasted lamb with a mint jelly served with garden vegetables and roasted potatoes. Then, for dessert, a beautiful apple pie made by the best creator of pies, pastries and cakes in all of Feirme."

"What a lie." Riza said "I made that pie."

"Exactly." Roy responded, a glint in his eye "Anyway, we better eat, or it'll get cold!"

Riza was glad to oblige. The food was amazing, and she couldn't believe that Roy had cooked all of this himself. The pea and garden mint soup was delicious, not too minty, and it did not fill her up. The main course as well was delicious, the meat cooked to perfection, the potatoes crispy and golden. It was all just how she liked it.

"And of course, for drinks." Roy said, pouring out two glasses from a wine bottle and handing one to Riza. He held up his own for Riza to touch them together "Red wine. Specially for pregnant women."

Riza looked at him suspiciously, and touched her wine glass to his. Taking a sip, her eyes went wide and after she had swallowed she started to laugh.

"It's grape juice." She said, and Roy nodded.

"A little fairy, okay, a rather large fairy, told me that pregnant women should not drink. So I got you grape juice instead."

"Thank you." Riza replied, awestruck by everything "This is too amazing! I have nothing to give you in return."

"That's not true." Roy replied, and served the pie "We have your pie."

Riza laughed.

"That is so very true." She replied, taking a bite of the pie. It wasn't that bad, she had to admit. She would defiantly cook for Roy in the future.

Once they were both stuffed near to bursting, Roy stood up.

"There is, of course, one last part to the evening." He said, smiling. Riza looked up at him.

"There's more?" She asked. He nodded and held up his hand, fingers poised in a snapping motion. Riza realized, for the first time in what felt like forever, Roy was wearing his gloves.

Snapping his fingers, little sparks flew out and disappeared beyond the trees that surrounded them. There was a small sizzle sound, and then a whooshing sound. Suddenly, there was a loud bang overhead, and Riza looked up to see a bright flash of colour.

"Fireworks." Roy smiled as more went off.

"Fireworks!" Riza replied, excitement in her voice. She adored fireworks.

"I hope you like them." Roy said "I tried to choose ones I thought you would like."

"Are you kidding?" Riza laughed, her face lighting up as each firework bust in the sky "I love them!"

"That's good then." Roy smiled. Watching Riza's face, the look on it like child-like amazement, as if it was Christmas morning. Watching her, he felt like they were both teenagers again, sneaking out at night and letting fireworks off, even though at that time they were still using matches.

"I love it." Riza repeated, her voice soft. Suddenly, she blushed, and turned to Roy.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked, surprise clear on his face. Another firework went up.

"I've been wanting to do this for a long time." She said, putting her hands on either side of Roy's face and bringing his down a little. A firework burst, lighting up their faces and showing Riza's beautiful nervousness and Roy's adorable confusion.

Another firework went up, and Riza went on her tip-toes. As the firework burst again, she placed her lips against his, joining them together and making both their hearts beat fast. They stood like this, their lips against each other's. Roy wrapped his arms carefully around Riza's back, and Riza's hands slid from his face to round his neck. The kiss lasted what felt like forever and a day, only ending when Roy felt like was about to pass out from lack of oxygen.

"Riza." He said, caressing her face. "You should've just said."

"I shouldn't of kissed you?" Riza asked, her face crumpling. Roy laughed, and shook his head.

"No, the kiss was a nice touch. A very nice touch. I mean, you should've said before. I wouldn't of held back on all those times I've wanted to kiss you."

Riza blushed a shade of pure scarlet, and laughed nervously.

"I can't believe it." She finally said "This is all I've ever wanted for so long, and now it's true… Are you sure this isn't a dream?"

Roy pinched Riza gently. She let out a small yelp, more of surprise than of pain, and then smiled.

"Nope, it's not a dream." She concluded, and kissed Roy again.


	11. Chapter 11

_Woohoo! Another Chapter!_

_I'm going to try and have this fanfic finished by the time I go to Paris in March! So I better get editing the last couple chapters!_

_Remember to please note me to any spelling/grammar mistakes!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

_Chapter 11_

The next few weeks passed by in a flash, the only difference to Roy and Riza's routine was now they didn't have to act like a couple, they could be a couple. Riza had mused about going further than kissing with Roy and doing what most married couples do in the bedroom, but with her pregnancy she decided it was probably best not to.

Thirty weeks pregnant. Thirty-one weeks pregnant. Thirty-two weeks pregnant. Thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five. The weeks rolled by, both of them stuck in their own little world, far away from everyone else. They rose from the same bed in the morning, ate at the same table, morning noon and night. Roy would go out to work, of course, but he would always be home to eat whatever meal his Riza had prepared for him. Sometimes, they would take baths together, and Roy would lovingly sponge Riza's baby bump as she sung in her voice that was always slightly off-key.

But of course, as with pretty much everything, all good things must come to an end.

The end came in the form of a knock on the door one morning. Roy had already gone out to work, and Riza was making herself busy cleaning one of the guns she had brought with her. It was now one of the only things she had as a memento of her past life, and even though she rarely ever used it anymore, it gave her great pleasure to clean it every-so-often. Riza heard the knock, and got up, casually putting a dish cloth over the gun to avoid any prying eyes seeing it and getting suspicious. She opened the door.

"Hello, how may I-" Riza's greeting trailed away. Standing outside the door was someone in a military uniform. Silently breathing a sigh of relief that it was no-one she had known, her eyes narrowed.

"Can I help you?" She asked, finding her voice. The soldier nodded.

"Good morning, ma'am." He greeted quickly, and held up a picture "We're looking for this man. Intelligence says he came to this town. Have you seen him?"

Riza's heart stopped. It was picture of Roy.

They had found them. It had only been a matter of time.

Riza panicked, but quickly regained her cool. This man obviously did not recognize her. She smiled sweetly.

"I'm sorry, sir." She said, her voice like honey. "But is that perhaps the Colonel Roy Mustang?"

"It is." The man nodded. Riza knew darn well it was him. "We're looking for him. He's under trial for the murder of thirteen women, and the planned murder of his Lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye."

"I see." Riza shuddered at the thought of him, her Roy, being charged with planning her murder. The soldier took her visible shudder as one of fear.

"But don't you worry, Ma'am." He said. "We'll find him and lock him behind bars. Have a good day, now." He tipped his cap, and turned to leave. Riza breathed out.

"Excuse me, Ma'am." She heard the soldier say again. Riza looked up to talk to him again, and froze.

Marge O'Donnell was stood outside. She would recognize Roy, even if she knew him not as Roy Mustang but a Claude Fenn. She defiantly would, and then it would all come out that he was living here, and Riza had been lying.

"Do you know this man?" The soldier held up the photo, and Riza say recognition flash in the older woman's eyes. Heart pounding, Marge looked up at Riza and caught her eyes. Riza looked terrified. Marge smiled.

"That man." She asked "What is his name?"

"Colonel Roy Mustang." The soldier told her "He ran away with Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye after murdering thirteen women and planning the murder of Lt. Hawkeye."

"Is that so!" Marge caught Riza's eyes, and then looked back at the soldier "I'm afraid you missed him. He was here about a month or so. No woman with him, though."

It took a few seconds for Riza to realize what was happening. Was Marge lying to help her? Did she know that giving false information was hindering investigations, and would but her in prison?

"Thank you, Ma'am." The soldier said, looking slightly defeated. "Do you have any idea where he was headed?"

"Back to central, I think." Marge told him "He was a strange one. Went by the name of Maes Butler though."

"Maes…" The soldier nodded. "That sounds like a name he would use. Thank you again."

Marge watched the soldier go back towards the station, and then turned to Riza.

"Put the kettle on, Miss Hawkeye." She ordered. "You have some explaining to do."

Riza did as she was told. Producing two cups of tea, she sat Marge down at the dining table and offered her a homemade cookie, which she gladly accepted.

"Murdering thirteen women, eh?" Marge laughed "That's a bit of a cover-up for getting pregnant and running away."

"I didn't know I was pregnant then." Riza explained. "I found out the day I got here."

"I see." Marge nodded "By the way, I will not rat you out. Anything you say here stays between you, me and your babe. Okay?"

Riza nodded. "Okay." She said. "I guess I'll start from the beginning. Roy and I were investigating a murder case, along with the rest of his men. Left along with the bodies were notes, of seemingly random groceries. It turned out that those notes were not random, and by taking the first letter of every item it spelt out 'Hawkeye is next'. That same day, a letter was delivered to us ordering us to go north."

"I don't like where this is going." Marge shook her head "You are both so young, and in so much trouble."

"I'm not that young." Riza threw in, but smiled at the compliment anyway "That night though, a man broke into my apartment. He seemed to know me, but I fired a few shots at him and he put me to sleep using alchemy."

"Oh my." Marge massaged one hand with the other "You don't suppose he could've done anything… _unsavoury_ with you, do you?"

Riza blushed bright red.

"Um, no." She said, shaking her head quickly "I was already fifteen weeks pregnant a few days after that happened. It's impossible."

"That's good to hear." Marge sighed with relief "I would've personally castrated him if he had."

Riza laughed, and carried on with her tale.

"After that night, Roy stayed with me and we went up north the next day. We stayed there for all but a day and a bit before we were told that us two coming North had not been an order, and that information had risen that Roy was the murderer and he had kidnapped me and fled. Whilst I was there though, the doctor preformed a blood test, which was how I found out I was pregnant."

"It's a good thing she did! Otherwise you would've strained yourself something silly decorating the house." Marge took another cookie, and dunked it in her tea.

"Obviously we had to take on fake names and pretend we were married." Riza blushed "Though now I guess we really are married, if only in name."

"Congrats." Marge smiled. "I always was able to tell a happy couple as soon as I did see them."

"But now…" Riza trailed off. She was going to tell Marge that they were going to have to move away, but the less people who knew that better.

"Now?" Marge prompted. Riza shook her head.

"It's nothing." She smiled. Marge did not look so sure.

"If you say so."

The two made idle chat until Roy came home for lunch. Not expecting anyone to be in the house apart from Riza, he threw open the door, laughing loudly.

"Riza!" He called, facing the now closed door as he took off his boots and coat "The men on the farm were talking about your baby and names for it. How does Helga sound?"

Roy turned around, and saw Riza looking at him awkwardly with Marge across from her.

"Lena!" He quickly corrected himself "Lena. How was your day, Lena? I didn't know you were coming over, Marge. I would've brought something."

"Sit down, Roy Mustang." Marge said. Riza couldn't help but laugh at Roy's face. It looked confused, a little bit scared but also dumbstruck.

"She knows." Riza said "It's no use trying to hide it."

Riza poured Roy a cup of tea, and the tree of them chatted about Roy and Riza's lives before they became Claude and Lena, and Marge listened intently, giving her input every now and then.

At one point, the thought Riza had avoided talking about came up. This time, it was Roy who said it.

"We're going to have to leave." He said "We can't stay here, not now that the military think we're here."

"But all our stuff!" Riza said, a hint of sadness to her voice "This is our home!"

"I know, Riza." Roy looked down "But if we have to go, we have to."

"Don't worry about your stuff." Marge said quickly, a thoughtful look on her face "If you go, I'll take care of it all. Keep the house nice. Then, once all this has blown over like I know it will, you can come back. Or I can send the stuff over to you."

Riza got up, and hugged the older woman. Slightly taken aback, Marge laughed and put her hands on the smaller woman's back.

"Thank you." Riza said, tears brimming in her eyes "You are too kind. You've always been kind to us. How can I ever repay you?"

"Have a healthy baby, Miss- no, Mrs. Mustang."

Roy smiled. It sounded nice to hear Riza referred to as that.

"I will." Riza replied.

"Make sure you get all this murder baloney sorted out." This was directed at Roy.

"I will." Roy replied.

"And make sure you both come out of this with a smile on your faces."

"We will." Both Riza and Roy replied to this one.

"If you do all that." Marge took another cookie "I will be the happiest woman in the world.

"We will." Riza promised "I swear, we will."

Marge got up, and announced it was now time for her to take her leave. Just before she stepped out, Riza stopped her.

"I'm still confused." She admitted "Why did you lie to the soldier?"

"Did you take me as stupid like that idiot girl Lacey?" Marge snorted "I knew it was you two the moment you stepped into my shop."

Blushing, Riza thanked her once again with a hug and waved her off. Closing the door, she turned to Roy who enveloped her in a different sort of hug.

"I made a promise." He said "I promised it would be okay. I've had to break that promise for a little bit, but I will try and fix it back up."

"Is that another promise?" Riza asked, tears flowing freely down her face. Roy kissed them off, and nodded.

"It is another promise." He told her "But this time, one that I will be able to keep."


	12. Chapter 12

_Yet another chapter!_

_I'm babysitting my two brothers (Even though my older brother is 18… lol) and my sister tonight and we're having a pizza/ice cream party yay XD So I'm gunna edit a few more chapters, do some homework (My art coursework is due in next Friday and I haven't even started my final product o.O) and then relax!_

_As per usual, please note me to any mistakes!_

_Enjoy!_

_Chapter 12_

The bags that had been hidden away since they arrived came out, and they started to pack up their stuff. Clothes, both for Roy and Riza along with some for the baby, as well as toiletries, food, and other things they would certainly need like medicine, and a first aid kit.

"Are you sure you're okay to travel?" Roy asked, helping Riza to collect up blankets and shove them into a backpack so that they would not freeze at night.

"I'm fine." Riza replied, slightly irritated. She wasn't useless. "I can travel."

Roy moved closer to Riza and put his hands on her ever-growing stomach. He smiled as the baby responded with a kick.

"I'm not going to make you stay here." He said, looking up into her eyes "But the baby will be born soon, right?"

"Soon." Riza snorted "Not for another month or so."

"We could be on the road in a month." Roy said "We could be, oh, I don't know, in a muddy forest, and you could go into labour. That would pose such great health risks to you, and the little one."

"I'm going with you." Riza said, glaring at Roy "I'm not leaving you. After everything, do you seriously think I'm going to risk losing you again?"

"Do you value my life over that of yours?" he argued "Over that of your unborn child?"

Riza paused. She didn't have to think about the answer to that question.

"I value your life over mine ten-fold, Roy Mustang." Riza said, standing up slowly. "Because I love you, and that's what you do when you're in love; you protect one another, no matter what."

Roy stood next to her, and took Riza's face in his hands. He stroked her skin softly, searching her eyes.

"I love you too, Riza Hawkeye." He said "Riza Mustang. I love that."

"What, your stupid name after mine?" Riza smirked.

"No!" Roy feigned hurt "No. The sound of it. It just sounds… natural. Like it was always meant to be."

"I know." She replied, folding her hands over her stomach. Roy took Riza's hand in his own, and kissed her knuckle gently.

"But in all seriousness, if you dare trade your life for mine I will never forgive you." He said. Riza laughed, the sound high and floaty.

"Okay." She said, holding out her pinkie finger "Come on, let's do this like when we were seven. I'll promise not to give my life to save yours, and you promise not to give yours to save mine. Or the baby's."

Roy treaded his pinkie through hers, and they pinkie swore on it.

By that night, the two of them were packed up and ready to go. They had decided to leave in the dead of night, when hopefully everyone was asleep. Marge had agreed to spread around the village that Riza's mother had gotten sick (A lie.) and she and Roy were going to go and look after her (Another lie.).

As the clock reached midnight, Roy took Riza's hand in his.

"Are you ready?" he asked her. Riza shook her head slightly, but then nodded.

"Yes." She said, wanting to get out of the house before she changed her mind "Let's go."

And with that, the two of them slipped off into the night, bags slung from their shoulders. They couldn't risk taking the train, so they followed the path up into the forest that stood behind the little house they had spent the last few months in bliss. The trees swallowed them up, and they were gone.

They walked until the sun started to come up, and Riza's legs started to fail.

"Roy!" She cried out. She had fallen behind and could not see him. A few seconds later however, he appeared at her left with a worried look on his face.

"What is it?" He asked "Is it the baby? Should I take you back?"

"My legs hurt." Riza replied "I want to rest."

"Okay." Roy nodded, his face cloudy "We can rest."

Riza sighed and found a fallen tree to sit on. Groaning as she sat, she let out a content sigh at having all of her weight taken off of her feet.

"Take a drink." Roy said softly, passing the bottle to her as he pulled out a map. Riza thanked him and took a long sip. Roy tried to puzzle out the map.

"We're about here." He muttered, taking out a pen and drawing a circle. "There's where Feirme is…" Another circle.

"Roy." Riza asked. Roy looked up. "Where are we even going?"

"I… I don't know." Roy admitted. Riza sighed.

"You know, since they thought we weren't there we could've stayed." She said.

"You know they would come back." Roy said. "There are only so many places I could be. They were bound to figure it out one day."

"It could've been another few months, though." Riza said, examining her hands "It could've been years."

"Or it could've been days, weeks." Roy replied, his voice low "It could've been right after the baby had been born, and then where would we be?"

"I don't know." Riza admitted. He had a point.

After their break, they started to walk again. Roy walked with his hand in Riza's for a bit, and if any stranger was to pass them by they would probably think it was just a couple out for an afternoon stroll. With a few large bags.

They stopped a few more times, twice to eat, and the rest mostly because one needed to go to the toilet or Riza's legs were hurting. Even with this, they made good ground, and by the time it got dark Roy decided it was time to stop for the night.

The two of them found a little place near a river, and Roy made a little tent with alchemy. Riza rolled out the blankets whilst Roy fetched water to boil for the next day.

"I'm so tired." Riza said, sitting by the fire with Roy. She could understand why he liked it so much. It was strangely mesmerising to watch the golden flames dancing with each other.

"Go and get some sleep." Roy said, turning to her. Her heart started to beat as the light from the fire left shadows on his face. Unable to help herself, Riza shuffled closer to him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm perfectly happy here." She murmured. "It's nice to just be able to sit with you like this. No rules, no regulations, nobody telling us how to live our lives. Just you, me and the campfire."

"And the baby." Roy added. Riza grinned up at him.

"And the baby." Riza agreed. The two sat in silence and watched the fire, Riza's head on Roy's shoulder and his arm around her shoulders.

When the fire started to die, Roy realized Riza had fallen asleep on his shoulder and gently shook her awake so he could take her inside the tent.

"Come on." He said, his voice soft "Let's get you to a proper bed."

"You are a proper bed." Riza replied, her voice somewhat hazy from sleep. Roy helped her up, and brought her into the tent. He laid her down carefully, making sure to take her shoes off. After taking his own shoes off, he laid down beside her and pulled the covers over them both.

"Mmm, you're warm." Riza mumbled, pressing herself up again Roy. Roy smiled, and put an arm around her.

"And you're smoking hot." He joked, and the two of them drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Roy was the first to rise. His arm was numb from where Riza had been asleep on it, but her sleeping face was still as adorable as all those times before so he did not wake her up. Even if she did snore, and sometimes dribble a bit in her sleep.

"Jesus…" Riza mumbled in her sleep. Roy looked over at her "He… Lives…"

"What are you on about?" Roy asked, shaking his head with a smile. Riza mumbled something else, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning." She smiled. Roy kissed her tenderly.

"Good morning, my snoring-drooling-made-my-arm-numb-Jesus-lives Riza." He said, a grin plastered on his face. Riza sat up slowly, and glared at him.

"I do not snore." She said "Or drool. And what is up with the Jesus lives?"

"You do snore. You also do drool, look." He held up his sleeve to show a wet patch "And also, you talk in your sleep."

Riza blushed bright red, and looked away. Roy looked surprised.

"What kind of things _do_ you dream about?" he asked. Riza blushed an even brighter shade of red, and suddenly getting it Roy blushed too.

"You dream about _that_?" Roy asked, getting slightly flustered.

"I do not! Don't get ahead of yourself!" Riza crossed her arms "I dream about Black Hayate, actually."

"Your dog?" Roy blinked "What happened to him, anyway?"

"Well, I left him with Second Lieutenant Havoc when we went up to Briggs." She said "With his legs working again, he always wants to be out doing something energetic. And looking after that dog is nothing but energetic."

"So he should still have him." Roy replied, sighing with relief "I know you miss him, though."

"I do miss him." Riza said, before smiling and patting Roy on the head "I guess you will have to do for the time being."

Roy made a barking noise, which made Riza laugh.

On the second day of walking, the forest had thinned out and given way to rocky, dusty mountains with deep valleys. Roy had decided it would be best to move west of Feirme towards the Western City since they were too occupied keeping Creta out to worry about two runaways. Though this made perfect sense, the ground was tough to walk on and it seemed to always be too hot to move.

It was another three days before they reached a village. Riza spotted it first, throwing up a hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

"Roy." She said, calling back to where Roy was ambling behind her "Come on! I think I can see a village!"

Roy perked up when he heard this, and started to walk a bit faster. As he reached where Riza was stood, she pointed and his gaze followed her finger. She was right; there was a village nestled in the valley below them.

"What are we waiting for?" Roy asked, feeling his energy come back "Let's go!"

Riza took Roy's hand and they walked down to the village. It was quite a trek, but they made it before nightfall and quickly located an inn.

"We don't usually see outsiders coming in." The innkeeper said when Roy told him that he and Riza were newlyweds on their honeymoon "Most people keep away because of the war. If I were you, I would take your pregnant missus there and get out. A battle ground is no place for the innocent."

Roy felt Riza's arm tighten around his, and gently patted her hand to calm her.

"I see, thank you for your concern." Roy smiled "If you don't mind though, it's late and we would like a hot meal, a hot bath and a warm bed."

"Of course." The Innkeeper grinned "I'm not very good, am I? I just drive away all the customers."

"You're a good man." Roy assured him with a chuckle "Not many would put people's lives before their business."

"I pride myself on it." The Innkeeper replied, and handed them a key "Here you go, room 001. It's just down the hallway there. I'll have someone draw a bath for you and bring some hot food."

"Thank you." Roy took the key, and led Riza to the room. As soon as they were inside, Riza threw her bags down and flopped onto the bed. She let out a content sigh.

"Wow, it feels so good to have a proper bed." She said "It's so soft and warm!"

Roy walked over and sat down next to Riza. He grinned.

"It is pretty soft." He replied, and fell back to that his head was right next to Riza's. Not even flinching at their closeness, Riza smiled at him.

"The life of a fugitive isn't so bad right now." She said. Roy smiled in reply, and kissed her softly. As he pulled away, Riza smirked and pulled him back into another kiss, this time a little more forceful. They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Room service!" A cheery voice called. Roy sighed, and got up to open the door.

"To be continued." Riza told him, sitting up and running a hand through her messy hair. Roy grinned at her, and pulled the door open.

Outside stood a young girl, who curtsied and brought in two trays of food. She set them down on the table that stood to the right of the bed, and turned to the bathroom.

"I'll draw your bath." She said "Please wait a moment."

"Thank you." Riza smiled, and walked over to the table. She took a chair, and inhaled the aroma of the food. It smelt so good, and Riza guessed it was onion and potato soup. As she stirred it, she noticed there were chunks of meat in it too. It was cheap peasant food, but it was warm and it smelt good so that did not bother her.

Roy joined her, and they started to eat whilst the girl drew the bath. The soup tasted really nice, the meat was tender and the potatoes helped to bulk it out. There was a small bit of bread to go with the soup as well, and Riza used it to mop up the remains of her soup.

When they were both finished eating, the girl took their empty plates and took her leave, saying that the bath was ready. Without speaking, Roy and Riza took their bath together, Roy washing Riza's long hair for her.

Roy left the bath first, as Riza wanted to soak for a little bit. Whilst he left her to it, he sat down at the table and rummaged through his bag. His fingers fell on the smooth hard cover of what he was looking for, and he pulled out the book Riza had been reading, _Where rainbows end. _Locating the page he had been at last, he sighed deeply and began to read.

When Riza got out of the bath, she wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out into the main room. She saw that Roy had fallen asleep at the table, and smiled softly.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"You great big baby." She whispered to him, taking the book out of his hands and shaking him gently to wake him.

"Wha-?" He asked, disorientated. Riza smiled and took his arm.

"Come on, you can't sleep here." She said "To bed."

"I'll gladly get into bed with you, Riza." He chuckled. Riza rolled her eyes, and helped him to the bed. Within seconds, he was under the covers and out like a light.

"You really are a big baby." She sighed with a smile. Carefully, she tucked him in and rummaged through her bag for a comfortable set of nightclothes. She pulled out the shirt and trouser combo she had worn that time at Briggs, and slipped them on.

"I always did think you had a phenomenal pair of tits." A voice leered behind her. Riza's eyes shot open, and she turned quickly. She hadn't noticed anyone watching her change; clearly her skills were out of it.

"You!" She explained, recognizing the voice of the man who had been in her apartment before "What do you want?"

"I want you." He said, coming into the light. Riza tried to see his face, but he was wearing a mask. Riza was starting to panic now, and reached over to wake up Roy. She shook him, but he refused to wake.

"It's no use." The man laughed "I used my alchemy to put him to sleep. I'm amazed you were able to get him to wake up just now. He must really love you."

Riza let out a nervous laugh.

"It's one thing I can use against you, at least." He laughed, and clapped his hands together. Riza braced herself, but quickly realized she wasn't the target.

"Don't!" She cried out, torn between rushing to shield Roy, to shove the man off course or to grab a gun from her bag. Her mind weighing up the pros and cons of each decision in a split second, she threw herself at the man.

"That was not a good idea." He chuckled, grabbing Riza around the wrists "I wasn't going to do this to you, considering your current state with the baby. But oh well, you provoked me. If the baby dies, It's not my fault."

Riza let out a cry of panic and tried to get away. It was fruitless, and she suddenly felt very, very sleepy.

"If you hurt my baby." Riza growled, just before unnatural sleep took her "I will not hesitate to kill you."

"Don't worry." The man said, slinging her sleeping body up over his shoulders. He quickly penned a note and slotted it into Roy's book. "I don't plan on letting the baby die. You would hate me then."

The man quickly slipped out of the Inn, making sure to keep Riza comfortable as he went. He had been following them for quite a while, and had eventually bought (read as stole) a cart. It was this cart that he now placed Riza on, and covered her with a blanket.

"Let's go back home." He muttered. He climbed onto the cart, gave the horse a smack, and they were off into the night.

As the sun came up, Roy woke to an empty room.

"Riza?" He asked, calling out into the room whilst he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes "Riza, are you there?"

Not getting an answer, he immediately realized something was wrong. Throwing himself to his feet, he quickly checked the bathroom. No Riza.

He ran out into the reception area still in his nightclothes, and asked the Innkeeper if he had seen Riza. He hadn't.

Ignoring the strange looks he got, he went back into to room and pondered. Where could she of gone? Maybe a morning walk? It was a rather nice morning. But she would've left a note, surely! It wasn't like Riza just to up and vanish all of a sudden.

He tried to remember the previous evening. Had they had a fight? He couldn't remember. They had been having a bath, he then read for a bit before feeling so tired… It had felt like someone had filled his belly with warm liquid, wrapped him up in a blanket, sung him a soothing lullaby and then tucked him into bed. It felt nostalgic, like what his mother would've done for him.

Shaking the thoughts of his mother away, he sat down at the table. He would give it half an hour, an hour tops to see if Riza came back. As she had said many, many times, she was pregnant; not helpless. If he ran out to find her she would probably get angry and yell at him again.

He sat back, his stomach grumbling. Sighing, he decided to go and fill his stomach with breakfast until Riza showed up.

Riza however, was not out on a walk. She was in the back of the cart, still out cold.

"Come on, I didn't blast you with the sleeping spell too hard." The man said, poking Riza's arm "You've gotta wake up sometime."

He needed to get on the train to take Riza back to their hometown, but with her as she was it would be difficult to do so without arousing suspicion. Plus, if she awoke on the train and started to trash around or cry out, people would immediately know something was up; and it wasn't as if he could bind and gag her so she wouldn't.

"For goodness sake." The man sighed irritably. He thought quickly; the next town with a station wasn't too far off, perhaps half a day's journey. He could drive there and hopefully Riza would be awake and he could get her to co-operate and get on a train there.

Yes! That was a brilliant idea. The man smiled, and smacked the horse to move again.

An hour had passed. It rolled into two hours, then three, then four. Riza still wasn't back, and now Roy was freaking out.

Images of her body, battered and bruised and lying at the bottom of various deep places filled his mind, and he quickly tried to expel them. He had seen her almost die once; he did not need to mental reminder.

"Think!" He told himself "If you were Riza Hawkeye, what would you do?"

He looked around the room for a note, a sign, anything that would indicate where she had gone. Maybe she had just grown tired of him and left. That didn't sound like something she would do.

He studied the room once again. Her bag had been lazily thrown down against the table last night, probably when she got her nightclothes out. The towel she had been wrapped in lay beside in, still slightly damp. The bathroom looked exactly the same as it did when he had gotten out, the now cold water still in the tub. The bed on his side was messy, the other side clearly showing signs she had not slept there. One of the chairs was pulled back, and _Where rainbows end _laid carelessly on the edge of the table.

"Think!" He looked around the room once more. There was also a wardrobe, for use if the occupants were staying for a long time. Two bedside tables sat either side of the bed, both with a single drawer that were both empty.

His eyes fell to the book. His mind whirring, he cursed his stupidity. Pouncing on the book as if he was a wild animal and it was his prey, he quickly opened it and began to flick through the pages quickly. In no time at all, a small card fell out, and landed at his feet.

"Bingo." He said with a twisted smile. Putting the book back down on the table and reaching for the card, he took it and flipped it over, reading the writing. He knew at once that this was not Riza's writing.

_If you want to see her again_

_Do not do anything rash_

_Turn yourself in_

_And I will spare her and your child_

Roy laughed despite himself.

Don't do anything rash?

Turn yourself in?

He'll spare his child?

That was pretty funny. He had an inkling as to where the man was headed. Riza had mentioned before he spoke as if he knew Riza from her childhood.

He was certainly taking her back there. To her home town. Back to where all the memories were.

_Cold, yet warm. Dark, yet light. Pain, yet comfort._

_She six years old. It was early afternoon, and she had attempted to make some sandwiches to give to Roy up in their field. The sandwiches were a little lopsided, but she was proud of them._

_She got to the field, and quickly located Roy. He was sat on a picnic blanket he had gotten from somewhere, with his legs draw up._

"_Roy!" Riza called gleefully. She ran up to where he was sat and put down the basket of sandwiches she had made. Roy looked up at her, and gave her a soft smile._

"_Good afternoon." He said. Riza frowned._

"_What's wrong?" She asked. Roy met her eyes, and shook his head._

"_It's nothing." He replied. Riza crossed her arms._

"_If you don't tell me what's wrong, I will take my sandwiches and go home." She huffed. Roy rolled his eyes._

"_My best friend was adopted this morning." He said. Riza frowned._

"_I thought I was your best friend!"_

"_You're my best girl-friend!" He explained "He was my best boy-friend!"_

"_Oh, I see." Riza sat down on the blanket "I see why you are sad."_

"_Yeah." He nodded, sniffing. Riza smiled._

"_Well, I guess I'll just have to make you feel better then!" She said, opening up the basket and pulling out a sandwich. She passed it to Roy._

"_What is this?" Roy asked, examining the sandwich "It doesn't look like anything I've ever eaten."_

"_It's a sandwich." Riza said, rolling her eyes "Duh."_

"_I don't know I want to eat it." Roy said "It looks bad. It might give me food poisoning."_

"_Hey!" Riza replied hotly "My sandwiches will _not_ give you food poisoning!"_

_Roy took a bite, and chewed it with his eyes shut. Swallowing, he opened his eyes._

"_Well, you haven't fallen down dead yet." Riza observed. Roy stuck his tongue out._

"_It's not too bad." He said "It's actually kind of good."_

"_See, I told you so." Riza took a bite out of her own sandwich. Her father had forgotten to go shopping, so all that was in it was a bit of butter and some ham but Roy seemed to be fine with it._

_Suddenly, her hand flew to her mouth and she turned to Roy with a shocked look on her face. _

"_What is it?" Roy asked "Did the sandwiches make you sick?"_

"_No!" She said, irritated "No. I just remembered something my father told me."_

"_Oh?"_

"_He said that if you eat food with a boy, you have to get married."_

"_What?" Roy almost choked, blushing bright red "We are not getting married!"_

"_Who says?" Riza crossed her arms "Plus now that we've eaten together, you have to do the right thing."_

"_I've eaten with many boys at the orphanage." Roy muttered "Does this mean I have to marry them too?"_

"_No!" Riza exclaimed "You have to eat with just a girl."_

"_Well, we're not getting married." Roy looked away._

"_Why not?" Riza looked down at herself "Is there something wrong with me?"_

"_No." Roy kept looking away. "You're… You're too young to be married. So there."_

"_Well, whatever." Riza shrugged "Make sure you tell me when we're old enough, okay?"_

"_Fine."_

Grumbling, Riza rolled her head to the side. The bed she was on was uncomfortable, it kept bouncing around and her back was starting to hurt.

"For God's sake." She grumbled "Stop moving, Roy."

"Ahh. You've finally woken up."

Riza snapped her head up. That voice wasn't Roy's. It belonged to that man. His mask lay beside her, but his back was to her and so she still couldn't see his face.

"Where am I?" Riza asked quickly. The man chuckled.

"As you can see, the middle of no-where." He continued to laugh "There's a bag beside you. Have a drink and something to eat. We'll be at the train station soon."

"The train station?" Riza asked, confused.

"Yes." He said "We're going home."

"Home?" She asked. There were so many places she could call home; the house in Feirme. Her apartment in Central. Or… that place. The house she had been born in. The house both her parents had died in.

"Your childhood home." He said, confirming her fears.

"I'm not going!" Riza said, climbing ungracefully out of the cart and attempting to run away. Her belly made this difficult to do, and by the time she had gone a few meters the man had gotten out of the cart and caught up to her, grabbing her arms and stopping her. Riza tried to fight him off.

"Stop it right now." He said in a low voice, placing his hands on Riza's belly and making her freeze. "Or I will do something we will both regret."

She hung her head, and let the man put her back in the cart. She had still been unable to get a glimpse of his face. How long was this going to go on? She needed to know who he was!

As much as she detested drinking the water and eating the food in the bag, Riza was both hungry and thirsty and decided to put her baby's well0being in front of her pride. The water tasted stale and the food even more so, with a strange after-taste that screamed sedatives at her when it was too late.

"You bastard." She said, her head starting to go cloudy. The man just smiled, and continued to drive the cart to the train station.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14_

Roy was out of the Inn within five minutes. It was hard to carry both his and Riza's stuff together, but there was no way he could dump it. Well, he could dump his stuff but not Riza's.

It was a ten-minute walk to the train station. It was a pretty risky thing to take the train, but it had to be done. He still had his fake documents, and after all no-one knew that Claude Fenn was Roy Mustang.

As he got on the train, he discreetly looked around, seeing if he could locate a brown-haired pregnant woman, traveling alone or accompanied. To his dismay, he could not see her. At one point he thought he saw Riza, but as she turned he realized it wasn't her.

Roy looked at the map. Capall. That was the name of Riza's hometown. It was the last stop East before Youswell. It was going to be a long journey. Chuckling to himself, Roy realized that the most time he had spent on trains had been over the past few months, with Riza. Sighing a little, he realized this was also the first train journey in a while he would be taking without Riza.

Vowing that this would be the last train ride he would take without Riza, he pulled out a book and began to read as the train pulled out of the station. Even though he was buried in the book, his mind kept drifting to a certain blonde-turned-brunette whom he would be seeing soon.

The sedatives made Riza feel light and airy, and opposed to fighting off her captor. She let him dress her in more appropriate clothes for traveling by train, at least more appropriate compared to the nightclothes she had been wearing. The tight black miniskirt and somewhat-transparent lace camisole he dressed her in left little to the imagination.

"This feels weird." Riza giggled, spinning round with her arms out "The skirt makes my belly look fat!"

"You're not fat." Her captor quickly reassured her "You're pregnant."

"I'm pregnant?" Riza asked, still spinning around. She came to a stop and clutched onto the man's arm as dizziness spread through her body "when did that happen? Is it yours?"

"Yes." The man said "You're my wife, remember? We've been happily married for five years, and this is our second child. Our first is at home in Capall with Grandma."

"My grandma or yours?" Riza giggled. The man shrugged.

"Mine, I guess." He said. Riza laughed.

"That's good then." She said, patting her belly with her hands "It would be bad if we left our child at home alone."

"Ah, there's something I forgot to do." The man said. Riza looked up at him, confused. She could see his face now, but all she could see was her husband. She had no reason to figure out who he was.

"Something you forgot?" She asked "A book, perhaps?"

For some reason, this made Riza think. A book?

"No, I need to change your eye and hair colour." He laughed a little.

"Change my eye and hair colour?" Riza frowned "Why?"

"Because I think red hair and green eyes will suit you down to the ground." He said. Riza looked sceptical.

"Will it hurt?" She asked. The man shook his head.

"No. All you feel is a little tingly sensation. Here, close your eyes."

Riza did this, and she felt a hand being run down her hair and then her eyelids. As he had said, there was a small tingly feeling that started from her scalp and eye sockets and ran down her body, until it reached her toes and then seemingly it dispelled out into the concrete at their feet.

"You can open your eyes now." The man said. Riza did, and noticed he was holding a small mirror.

"Wow." She said, admiring her now emerald green eyes and auburn hair. "It does look really good."

He snapped the mirror shut as the train pulled up to the station, and the two of them got on.

"Here, follow me." Riza's captor said as he pulled her down the aisle. He froze as he caught sight of a familiar face, but continued to move as to not arouse suspicion.

Roy was engrossed in his book, but looked up to see they had arrived at another station. As he looked up, he saw a man and a woman with red hair get on. His eyes widened. That woman looked like Riza.

He crossed his fingers that they would come down his aisle, and luckily they did. As they got closer, he reached up and grabbed the woman's wrist.

"Excuse me." Roy said, looking at the woman. If it wasn't for her green eyes and red hair he would've immediately said she was Riza "Have we met before?"

Riza looked at him. She defiantly remembered him from somewhere.

"I don't think you have." The man said, taking Riza's arm and gently pulling her forwards "Please excuse us."

"I think I have met you before." Riza said quickly, stopping still. "What is your name?"

Roy stopped. This woman did not appear to be Riza. She did not immediately recognize him also. Would it be wise to tell her his real name? Or should he just use his fake one?

"Claude." He said slowly "My name is Claude. I have a wife, Lena. Maybe you've met her?"

Riza thought. Lena? Lena? That sounded so familiar. She couldn't put her finger on why it did though.

"Oh." Riza smiled apologetically "I don't think I do know you. Sorry."

"Oh." Roy sounded dejected, and Riza immediately felt sorry for him. There were two seats opposite where he was sat, and Riza quickly sat down across from him, much to her captor's irritation.

"What are you doing?" He asked, loud enough for Roy to hear "I said we were going to sit somewhere else, didn't I?"

"I want to sit here though." Riza kept her gaze on the man's "My feet hurt."

"You should let her rest." Roy cut in, earning a glare for the man "My wife's pregnant too, and when she says she wants to rest she will not move at all."

"Yes, but that is your wife." The man gritted his teeth "This is my wife."

Roy looked at the man. He looked back with such hatred in his eyes it started Roy a little. He recognized this man, but could not place where he had seen him before. He seemed to detest Roy a lot, which also added to Roy's suspicion he had met this man before.

"I'm sorry." Roy said "I don't think I caught your name."

"Eirnin Payne. " He said "And my wife, Aibhlinn."

"Evelyn?" Roy replied, saying it how he had heard it "That's a nice name."

"It is, isn't it?" Riza smiled. "I chose it myself!"

"You chose it?" Roy's eyebrows furrowed.

"Aibhlinn, are you thirsty?" the man, Eirnin changed the subject. Riza looked at him.

"No, I'm fine." She said. Roy could not get over the fact that she looked and sounded like Riza, his Riza.

Eirnin bought Riza a drink anyway, and Roy saw him put something into it. His brow furrowing even more, he watched as Aibhlinn drank it, and then yawned.

"I'm really sleepy now." She said.

"Then sleep." Eirnin shrugged "It's a long way until we arrive."

"Oh, where are you going to?" Roy asked. Eirnin shrugged.

"Home." He said. There was no way he was going to tell this man where he was taking Riza.

"Ah." Roy replied, nodding his head as if he understood.

Riza mumbled something which was inaudible to Roy, but Eirnin heard it just fine. He tensed up a little and glanced at Roy to see if he had heard, but he had picked up his book and was reading it again.

"I saw you put sleeping powder into her drink." Roy said after a while.

"It's none of your business." Eirnin replied, not even bothering to look at Roy.

Roy glared up at him, but did not say another word.

_There was something about sneaking out with Roy Mustang that made Riza's heart beat so fast she thought it would explode._

_Her father had made it pretty clear the first time they had snuck out and stayed out until the morning that he would not have any romantic going-ons under his roof. _

_Well, they were outside, weren't they?_

"_Are you sure about this?" Riza asked nervously. Roy looked back from where he was half-way up a wooden fence and grinned._

"_Yeah, trust me. I found a really nice place where we can go. Your father won't even know about it." He said, holding out his hand for Riza to take. She took it, and Roy helped her to get over the fence._

_Riza climbed up over the fence, and landed on the other side. They were heading to their field, to watch the sun set with a picnic._

"_It seems most things we do involve a picnic of some sort, doesn't it?" Roy asked, passing the basket over "This basket has seen so many years of us picnicking I'm surprised it hasn't broken by now."_

"_You just like to eat my food." Riza replied, grinning "And I enjoy cooking for you."_

"_I know you do." Roy returned her smile._

_They walked up the field, and Roy laid down their blanket. Flopping down onto it, he exhaled loudly._

"_It's so cold tonight!" He said, breathing out. Riza nodded._

"_It is, and that's why I made a stew for us."_

"_You made stew?" Roy sat up, and watched Riza take two bowls out of the picnic basket. She then pulled out a sealed container, and opened it up to reveal the steaming hot contents._

"_It's pork." She said as she poured out the two bowls "I hope it's okay."_

"_It looks warm and smells good." Roy replied "It's most defiantly fine."_

_Riza smiled, and watched as Roy sipped at the stew. He made a smile of content, and Riza grinned back._

"_It's very good." He said "Nice and warm. You're getting to be quite the cook."_

"_Well, I have been cooking for at least 9 years now, since after Mama passed away Papa didn't cook." She said, rolling her eyes "So I should hope I'm good at cooking."_

"_I'm terrible at cooking." Roy replied "You should teach me sometime."_

"_Challenge accepted." Riza grinned at him._

_The two of them sat and watched the sun as it dropped down below the hills, painting the sky beautiful shades of reds, ambers and yellows. It eventually slid right below the hills, and left Riza and Roy in the dark._

"_That never gets any less beautiful." Riza sighed "I love watching the sun set."_

"_I do too." Roy agreed "It's like it accepts its fate and dies every night just to let the moon live."_

"_That's very deep." Riza laughed, rolling over onto her stomach and absentmindedly playing with Roy's hair._

"_I'm a man of poetry." Roy replied "And leave my hair alone. It does not need to be platted."_

"_It's longer than mine, of course it needs platting." She replied "You really need to get it cut soon."_

"_I will." Roy pulled a face "One day."_

_They stayed and chatted for a long time, only heading back when it got so cold Riza could not feel her hands. When they arrived back at her house, they quietly snuck back in. Roy turned on the light, and looked at the clock. He pulled a face._

"_What?" Riza whispered. Roy motioned to the clock._

"_It's almost 1am." He said "If your father catches us he's going to kill me."_

"_Let's just go to bed." Riza replied "I'll see you in the morning."_

"_Goodnight." Roy watched her walk towards the stairs. Her bedroom was on the top floor, and his was on the bottom, right at the back of the house. As Riza got to the bottom step, she turned and gave Roy a little smile and a wave before disappearing up the stairs. _

_Roy put the light out and went to his own room, realizing how tired he really was. Just before he climbed into bed, he looked in the mirror and smiled softly as he realized Riza had weaved a couple of daisies into his hair._

Roy watched Aibhlinn slept for a long time. There was just too much about her that made him sure that she was Riza, just somehow with a different name, eye and hair colour. They had just passed East city when she awoke.

"Good morning, Aibhlinn." Eirnin said, rubbing his wife's shoulder "Did you sleep well?"

"I did." She replied "Though I had the strangest dream."

"Tell me about it later." Eirnin shushed her quickly, as if he knew she had dreamt about Roy.

Roy thought that the man was a serious weirdo. He kept looking at Roy with hatred and stopping his wife from talking. It was very strange behaviour.

They got off at the stop before Capall. Roy wondered if they would ever cross paths again as he watched them walk away.

Without warning, Aibhlinn took her jacket off. Eirnin quickly pulled it back on her, but the damage had been done and Roy had already seen her back.

The tattoo. There was no doubt about it.

Aibhlinn Payne was Riza Hawkeye.

What the hell had that man done to her?


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

Roy jumped up to get off the train, but then stopped. That man was taking her to her house. If he went there and waited, he would turn up soon enough. Roy sat down, a smiled on his face. At least he would have the element of surprise.

"Put your jacket back on." Eirnin roughly yanked it back up.

"But I'm too hot!" Riza protested. "And this isn't Capall. Capall is the next stop."

"I know that." Eirnin growled "But that man across from us was watching you with a distasteful look on his face. I didn't want to risk him following us back to your house."

"Oh." Riza looked around "How are we going to get to Capall then?"

"Taxi." Eirnin replied. He quickly found someone with a cart, and in a few short moments money had exchanged hands and they were on their way to Capall.

Roy reached Capall first, as of course it was quicker by train. He swiftly got off, and began to walk in the direction of the Hawkeye manor. He had always referred to it as a house, but it was actually quite big, and also quite intimidating. He wondered how Riza had coped being a small child in such a big place with no siblings.

Amazingly, he still remembered the way. You walk straight north from the train station, take a left at the pub and continue on until you reach a fork in the road. Take the right path, and continue on up the hill. That was the path that led to the house.

Standing outside of the empty manor, it seemed a lot bigger than he remember. It was three floors high, and very long both out and back. There was a small garden out front, which he remembered Riza liked to grow roses in, her favourite flower.

Now all that grew there was weeds.

As far as he was concerned, the house had lain empty for a long time. Riza had told him once that she had planned to sell it, but could never get up the will to cut it off. She had always said 'It's the house where I was born. The house where both my parents died.' It was also the house where her father had been born, and basically all the Hawkeyes before that had been born. It held the births, lives and deaths of many people, all of them connected by name.

Roy pushed open the gate, and shuddered slightly. The last time he had been here was after master Hawkeye's funeral, when even though Riza had been mad at him he had followed her home and made sure she was okay.

That was also the night she had shown him the tattoo. Even now, Roy wondered how he could've lived in the house and still never of known about it. It had either been done before he had gotten there, or Riza had just been too good at hiding the pain. Roy suspected the latter.

He opened the front door, and reached up for the light switch. It was getting late, and the sun was going down. Flicking it, he was surprised to see that the lights still worked; after all, it had been a long time since anyone had been here. To his knowledge, anyway.

He looked around. The sofa that he and Riza had lounged on so many times sat covered in a blanket collecting dust. Large ornate wooden cabinets littered the walls, stacked high with books and photo albums that he had once pored over, laughing with Riza about how cute she was as a baby. Unable to help himself, Roy opened one of the cabinets and pulled out an album he knew contained photos of baby Riza. He opened it, and smiled softly at the pictures of the once care-free Hawkeye family; Master Berthold, his wife and the tiny baby Riza. Roy suddenly felt wrong looking at it, and quickly put it back on the shelf.

Curiosity swelled inside of him, and he walked through the kitchen in the direction of the room he had stayed in during his time here. He pushed open the door, and stepped in, putting the light on.

It was just as he remembered it; the bed that seemed to have a dip in the middle. The desk that just wasn't quite tall enough accommodate his legs as the chair was a little too tall. The stacks of papers, notebooks and text books that lined the walls, much like the other rooms in this house.

Roy walked over to the dresser, and pulled it open. Some of his clothes were still in there, he noted. He had been unable to fit everything into the tiny suitcase he travelled with.

It was very eerie to stand in the room. It seemed that memories pinned themselves to the walls, and every time Roy stumbled upon one he would be dragged into the past, reliving each and every moment as if it was the first.

He left the room, and without realizing it his feet took him up the stairs and to Riza's room. He pushed open the door.

He hadn't been in Riza's room much whilst he was here (Her father had not allowed him too, and since there wasn't much else on the third floor he had no reason to go up there) but from what he could tell, it had not changed much either over the past fifteen years.

Clothes were dumped here and there, and with a pang Roy recognized the dress hanging from the cupboard was the one they had picked out together for their school dance.

Her bed was made, her blanket with the little embroidered patches pulled up over the duvet. Roy could remember that Riza had told him that the women of the Hawkeye family passed that blanket down, each sewing something on it. It seemed to be quite and old blanket, as there were many things sewn on it, all finished off with a name and a date. It was sort of like a family tree in blanket form.

Riza's contribution to the blanket had been a beautiful embroidery of a rose. She had dragged Roy up to the market, and spent ages stood by the stall which sold embroidery thread in the freezing cold, looking for the perfect shade of pink to do her roses in. When they both caught colds she had apologized profusely, but Roy had brushed it off. It meant he got to sit for hours and watch her carefully create each stich with love, the blanket in one hand and needle and thread in the other.

He picked up the blanket, and quickly found the rose. It looked just as beautiful as he remembered, the vibrant pink o both the flower and her neatly-stitched name standing out against the colour of the blanket.

Looking around, Roy realized that Riza's room was the only room that was not covered in books. There were a few here and there, but not stuffed in like his room. She had framed pictures on her bedside table. One was of her mother, father and herself. In that photo, Riza looked about five or six so it was probably the last photo she had of her with both her parents. The next was her first day of school, her hair put up in pigtails. Her hair was so long at that point, right down past her waist.

Roy bitterly guessed having long hair would get in the way of her father tattooing his research on her back.

The final picture had been flipped down, and Roy knew what it showed before he even stood it upright. It was his seventeenth birthday, and Riza had gotten someone at school to take a photo of them both together. In the photo, Riza was holding a plate of cake. Roy could remember that as soon as the picture had been taken, someone had accidentally pushed her and the cake had gone right into his face, covering him in the soft icing and moist cake. It had been quite funny, but hard to get out of his hair.

Roy felt exhausted. He turned off all the lights in the house, and found himself back at Riza's room. Sighing, he climbed into her bed and fell asleep.

"Are we almost there yet?" Riza asked "I really need to go to the toilet. The baby is bouncing on my bladder."

"We're almost there." Eirnin replied, irritated. He had preferred her before when she would not talk to him for hatred of him. Now, she wouldn't shut up.

"Oh good." Riza rubbed her belly. They had gotten off the train at the stop before Capall, but it was still an hour or so journey by cart through the hills. It was getting dark too, which made it cold.

Eirnin frowned. That man, Roy, would be there at the house. He could tell. But it was no use him trying to get Riza back now, she was so drugged up she didn't even remember her own name most of the time.

He had already thought up a plan; He would be at the house, which was in the middle of no-where, secluded from the others in the village. No-one would notice if he mysteriously 'disappeared' in the middle of the night.

Or he could rat him out to Central. In his master plan of getting Riza back, he had not planned on Roy discovering whilst at Briggs that he was to be tried for murder. He had not planned on him running off with his Riza, and he certainly had not planned her getting knocked up with his bastard child.

Oh well. Roy Mustang would be out of their lives soon enough, and he didn't mind pretending that child was his. As long as he had Riza with him, he would do anything.

Riza shivered, and Eirnin put his arm around her in a rare show of emotion towards her. Riza flinched away slightly, but then settled into his warmth.

As Eirnin had said, the ride to Capall did not take much longer. The man driving the cart dropped them off at the train station, and Eirnin luckily remembered the way to Riza's old house, and was able to take them both back there. Riza seemed unimpressed when she saw the house.

"Why did you bring me here?" She asked. There was a niggling feeling in the back of her mind which made her believe she had been here before.

"This is your home." Eirnin said, thinking to himself that maybe he had given her a large dose of the drugs than he meant to "Our home. You grew up here, remember?"

Riza nodded.

"I grew up here…" She repeated, and began counting off her family members on her fingers "With mama… and papa… and then there was Roy."

Riza's mouth made an O shape.

"That man on the train!" She said "I lived here with him before, didn't I?"

"I don't know." Eirnin replied, clenching his fists "You'll have to ask him."

"I don't know where he is." Riza replied, shaking her head.

"He's right here." A voice said. Riza turned to the front door to see it was open, and the man who was on the train with them was standing there.

"Ahh, Mustang." Eirnin said with a smirk "I see you worked out my little game."

"What the hell-" Roy said, pausing "Did you do to her?"

Riza looked between the two of them.

"What does he mean?" She asked Eirnin "What did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything." Eirnin replied "But I think you should go up to your room so that I can talk to this man in private."

"Don't treat me like a child." Riza muttered, but did as he said anyway. At least she remembered where he room was.

She slid past Roy, ducking her head as she did. Roy watched her walk across the living room. As Riza was walking up the stairs, Roy turned.

"Remember who you really are, Riza Hawkeye." He called to her "Remember who you really are."

Riza nodded, and continued up the stairs. When she was out of sight, Roy turned back to Eirnin.

"I will ask you again politely." Roy said "What did you do to her?"

"She's fine." He replied "So quit worrying. I've only given her a few sedatives that contained some drugs which caused memory loss."

Roy hit him.

"She's pregnant, you idiot." He snarled "Giving her drugs is a stupid idea to start with, but what if they harm the baby?"

"They're not going to." Eirnin resisted the urge to hit Roy back "Now, can we please go in and talk like civilised adults? It's getting dark out here."

"Like civilised adults, he says." Roy snorted, as Eirnin pushed past him "Like a civilised adult who kidnapped a girl he once had a school-boy crush on."

Eirnin turned sharply.

"Hit the mark." Roy smiled, and Eirnin cursed.

"So I like her." Eirnin threw his hands up "I want her. She should be mine. But instead, she's yours. How is that even possible? You stabbed her straight through the heart, and turned the knife a bit whilst you were at it. How the hell do you have Riza and I don't?"

"It's pretty simple. I made sure she was safe. I kept her alive, goddammit, for so long. You hid in the shadows when you found out she wanted me and not you. That's why I have her and you don't." Roy's fingers were aching and he wanted no more than to reduce this perverted stalker into a pile of black dust.

"I can remember what you did to her, you know." Eirnin looked him straight in the eye "After you left and her father died, she tried to put on a brave front but everyone knew she was dying inside. If anyone went to her house she would not answer, but on the rare occasion that she did her eyes would be red and puffy from tears. I would say you did that to her, and I was there to comfort her at that time."

Roy was silent. Riza had told him before that she had had a rough time on her own, but he knew that she was able to work through it. She was strong, much stronger than this toad made her out to be.

"And also, she thinks that I am her husband." Eirnin continued "And that your child is mine. How does that feel?"

Roy fought back a smirk.

"It feels like your inferior to me, actually." He said. Eirnin growled.

"Get lost, Mustang. Forget about her."

"I will not." Roy replied "And I could never forget about Riza. I'm not leaving; this is technically my house too."

"You lived her for two years." Eirnin pointed out "That hardly qualifies as your house."

"I lived here longer than you." Roy struggled to keep his tone polite. This man was about to be rushed to hospital with third-degree burns the way he was going.

Eirnin gave up at that point.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore." He said "I'm calling Central and telling them you're here. If you had half a brain you would get out."

"Thanks for the warning." Roy muttered. "There's a bedroom down past the kitchen there."

Eirnin turned without thanks and went to the bedroom. Roy smiled, and went up the stairs to Riza's room. When he entered, she was sat on the bed smoothing her stomach.

"My name isn't Aibhlinn, is it?" She asked "It's Riza."

"It's Riza." Roy confirmed "Your mother named you Elizabeth. Your father called you Lizzy."

"I don't remember." Riza said softly. Roy realized she was crying "Eirnin told me I was in an accident, and I had lost my memory. He let me pick a name, saying that my old one didn't matter. I was confused as to what he meant, but I think I understand."

Roy reached up and started to wipe away her tears. It was strange looking into her eyes and instead of the pools of melted chocolate they usually were seeing emerald green.

"I'm not married to him, am I?" She asked "And this isn't his child. We're married, aren't we? And this is your child."

"I can defiantly tell you you're not married to him." Roy said "And you're not technically married to me either, but we are in name. And the child, the father is unknown."

"Oh, brilliant." Riza frowned "Not only am I stupid but I am also a whore. A stupid whore."

"You are _not_ a stupid whore." Roy said to her "You are a beautiful woman and the love of my life who had been drugged by a man who should know better."

"I've been _drugged_?" Riza replied, shock on her face.

"Yes." Roy replied "I suggest you don't eat or drink anything that man gives you. Or go near him. For that matter. He's a very bad man."

"I don't get it through." Riza put her hands to her face "He makes it seem like he really cares for me."

"He does really care for you." Roy sighed, knowing it was true "He just couldn't handle the fact I had you and he didn't. So he decided to take you from me by force."

"I can remember small bits and pieces about us." Riza suddenly said "Like how you hated paperwork, how you got drunk more often than not and how you like to read romance novels about fantasy lands."

Roy smirked.

"I only got drunk because if I wasn't with you I didn't want to face the world sober." Roy said. Riza smiled softly at him.

"That's really sweet." She said "I'm glad you thought that."

"I still think it." He said "Whenever we're apart, I wish I was with you. Whenever I'm with you, I wish we will never be apart."

"If I really was in love with you before, which I don't doubt I was, I can see why." Riza smiled "You're so charming."

"I aim to please, Ma'am!" Roy mock-saluted her. Riza laughed, the sound high and twinkly.

Oh, how he had missed that sound.

"We should run, Riza." Roy said quickly "Get away from here. Get away from him."

"We can't." Riza shook her head sadly. Roy clenched his fists.

"Why not?" He asked, trying not to make his voice sound like a spoilt three year old who had just been denied something.

"He has a sort of hold on me." Her voice was so sad "I think it was when he changed my hair and eye colour. It was like he marked me. Made me his property. I can't go anywhere without him knowing where I am."

Now Roy was _really_ mad at that man, Eirnin. He was seriously contemplating walking to his room and frying the hell out of him whilst he slept.

He wouldn't really do it, of course. He had shown Riza that side of him too many times.

"It's getting late." Roy said in an attempt to change the subject. Riza yawned and nodded.

"I agree." She said. Roy got up to leave, but stopped when he felt a tugging on his shirt sleeve. Looking down, he saw Riza had grabbed it.

"Please stay." She said "The bed's big enough for the both of us. I remember we shared a bed in Feirme."

"You remember Feirme?" Roy asked. Riza nodded slightly.

"I remember being with you." She said "And not much else."

"I'll stay, of course I'll stay." Roy said, slipping his shoes off "Are you going to get changed?"

Roy seriously hated that outfit. Eirnin really was such a pervert, putting a pregnant woman in such revealing clothes as that. They really only belong on some low-class back-street hooker.

"I am." Riza replied, starting to change. Roy looked away out of force of habit.

When she was done, Roy got into the bed and Riza tuned off the light and then slipped in next to him.

"If your father was here," Roy whispered to her "He would have my guts for garters."

"He never did like it when you flirted with me." She laughed softly "Though whenever it was just him and me he would smile and ask if there was any progression in our relationship. I think he did want us to be together, really."

"And he told me to take care of you." Roy added "To protect you, always. I promised I would, and here I am."

"And here you are." Riza agreed. She turned onto her side so she was facing him in the dark.

"I hope I can break out of this soon." She said, referring to the bond Eirnin had set on her "And then we can live together happily."

Roy realised she would remember none of the murder case or any of that, and did not wish to tell her at that moment. Instead, he just smiled.

"Yeah." He said "We can live happily ever after."


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter 16_

The next morning, Eirnin brought up a glass of water for Riza to drink. He frowned deeply when he saw Roy in bed with her with his arms wrapped around her, but he did not wake them. He didn't want to have to deal with Roy this early in the morning.

As soon as the door swung shut, Roy's eyes snapped open and he climbed out of the bed. Taking the cup of water, he took one sip, and frowned. In a few swift movements, he had moved to the window, pushed it open and dumped the contents of the glass onto the garden below.

As he shut the window, Riza propped herself up and looked at him weirdly.

"What was that all about?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Drugged." He simply said. Riza nodded.

"Ah, I remember now." She said "Don't eat or drink anything he gives me."

"Exactly." He smiled at her.

"Hey, you know what?" Riza asked, Roy looked up at her.

"What?" He asked. Riza grinned for ear to ear.

"I think we should go up to our place." She said "You know, that field we always went to?"

"I remember perfectly." Roy smiled softly, but then frowned "Though would Eirnin let you go?"

"We'll sneak out." She grinned, laughing at Roy's face "Just kidding. We'll tell him where we're going. He'll have to let me out of the house, he can't keep me locked up forever. Plus people here know us both and stuff, he can't risk me telling on him."

"You talk like a child." Roy noted "You're going to 'tell on him'?"

"Yeah." Riza kept grinning "I'll tell on him and he'll get a time-out."

The two of them got dressed (Riza wore clothes from her wardrobe she had not looked at in years, and Roy had some clean things in his bag. He mentally noted to himself to get the rest of it washed as soon as possible.) and then headed downstairs. Eirnin was sat in the dining room, frowning to himself and eating a bowl of what looked like porridge. He had also made a bowl for Riza.

"Good morning, Aibhlinn." He greeted her, and shot Roy a dirty look. Riza crossed her arms.

"My name is Riza. You know that." She said. Eirnin looked at her sharply.

"Did you get your morning cup of water?" He asked suspiciously. Riza felt Roy put a hand on her back, out of the sight of Eirnin. She nodded.

"I did." She said, lying through her teeth "It tasted very refreshing. Thank you."

"I see." Eirnin pointed to the bowl "Please sit, have some breakfast."

Riza looked at the porridge longingly. It was her favourite breakfast dish right now, especially covered in golden syrup like it was. She was awake of Roy's hand on her back though, and shook her head politely.

"No thank you." She said "I don't really feel like eating. Pregnancy stuff and all that." She smiled. Eirnin glared at Roy.

"I can make you something else?" He said slowly. Riza shook her head again.

"It's fine, really." She smiled "Also, me and Roy are going out for a bit. We'll be back sometime after lunch."

"No!" Eirnin shouted, making Riza flinch. Roy felt it, and in turn felt like doing something to make Eirnin flinch.

"What?" Riza replied "Why not? You can't keep me cooped up in here. The village people will notice."

"The village people stick their noses where they shouldn't." Eirnin huffed "You can go out, but not with him. He's a rotten good-for-nothing on the run from Central."

"I don't care." Riza threw back. Eirnin looked surprised. "I wouldn't care if he was the most rottenest, most good for nothing run away in the whole of the world; We're going out, and there is nothing you can do to stop us."

"I can stop you." He replied darkly "I can stop you from doing anything, if I wish."

Roy could feel Riza shaking slightly.

"Just this once." Riza said, her voice almost pleading "Just this once. Anyway, you called Central, right? Soldiers are probably coming for him right now. Just let us have one more morning together."

"And then you'll be all mine?" Eirnin asked, lust in his eyes. Riza swallowed, and nodded.

"Yes." She replied.

"Fine then." Eirnin smiled "You can spend one morning together. I'll see you both at sunset, hopefully with him in shackles."

Riza wasted no time in getting the hell out of there. Roy followed in hot pursuit. It was only when they were outside Riza let a few tears drip from her eyes.

"Dammit!" She cursed, furiously rubbing the tears from her eyes "Dammit all to hell!"

"Are you damming everything to hell?" Roy tried to cheer her up "Including me? Because if you damn me to hell, I hope you remember you promised to follow me there."

Riza smiled shakily, and hit him gently on the arm.

"Don't you play that card, mister." She said, mock-sternly.

Roy laughed, and threw his arm around her shoulders.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to you." He said "That bastard can taunt you all her likes, but I'll always be here to keep you safe from him."

"But the army-" Riza started. Roy put a finger to her lips.

"I'll hide." He said "I've done my fair share of hiding from things. Like… angry women. Uncles. Paperwork."

"I can vouch for that last one." She laughed. Roy grinned.

"See? We'll be fine. We'll be defiantly fine."

"Do you know who he is?" Riza asked. Roy looked at her.

"He said that he lived in the village. He also said that when you were on your own, he came and looked after you. And that's about it."

"That's true." She said "Both of those. He lived in the village, and went to school with us. His father was a friend of my father, before he became reclusive. Eirnin is two years older than us."

"That man is older than me?" Roy's face fell in mock-horror "I feel so inadequate!"

"Oh, shush." Riza laughed "Anyway, he apparently had a crush on me all the way through school, from when I started. Maybe even before." She blushed a bit "But I was too busy hanging out with you. And I guess he got jealous of you."

"You guess?" Roy asked. Riza rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I know he got jealous of you. Anyway, do you remember that dance?"

"Yes." Roy nodded.

"After I stormed off, Eirnin came to find me. He started asking me what was wrong, and of course I was very tipsy, very out of it, and very confused."

"He didn't… He didn't do anything, did he?" Roy clenched his fist.

"He kissed me." Riza said, her voice small "He kissed me properly. Like a French kiss. And a little groping."

"That bastard." Roy frowned "I think I might have to cut his hands off. He got to cop a feel before me."

"I don't think that is the problem here." Riza grinned at him "I didn't see him much until after you left, when he would come round to check on me every-so-often. Every time he would make his advances clear and tell me he wanted me. I all ways told him no."

"Why?" Roy asked "You were mad at me."

"So?" Riza looked at him "Being mad at you doesn't equal letting another man do whatever he likes with me."

"Fair point." Roy pointed ahead of them "Isn't that where the field is?"

"It is." Riza nodded. They ducked down through a hedge, crossed a small field and then climbed over the gate. Roy held out his hand to help Riza, and she took it gratefully.

"Thank you." She said as she landed on the other side. Roy smiled at her.

"But what I don't get about him." Roy then continued "Is how he got so powerful. Why he did what he did to get you. I'm guessing he is linked to the murders, and the Elric brothers giving us the phoney letter to go up to Briggs."

"I don't know." Riza shook her head "He is very powerful though. We'll have to find it out soon though. To find out a man's weakness, first you need to know his greatest power."

"That's very true." Roy nodded. They didn't have a blanket, so they had to sit on the ground. It hadn't rained in a while though, so the ground was dry.

"Wow, this place never changes." She said, smiling. "So many years have passed, yet this place is still the same."

"I know." Roy locked his eyes with hers, smiling at her "You know, there were many times I sat here and wished I could kiss you. Right here, right under these trees, right in the grass. I wished I could kiss you and hold you and tell you to love me forever. Is that a weird thing to say?"

"I wish you had said it before." Riza added "It would've been nice."

Roy smiled, and put his hand on her cheek, gently caressing it. Riza put her hand up to Roy's cheek, feeling the sharp stubble on his chin.

"You need to shave." She murmured as Roy began to close the space between their lips. Roy chuckled, the sound deep and throaty.

"I know." He said "I know."

Their lips touched, and in a split second they were lost in it. The feeling of electricity pulsing though out their bodies and radiating from their kiss was intense. Roy flung his arms around Riza's neck, lovingly pulling her into him and holding her tight. They continued to kisd for what felt like hours before Riza pulled back and rested her head in the little nook under Roy's chin which seemed to have been carved out just for her.

"I love you." She whispered "I… I remember everything. I love you so much."

Roy leaned back, looking into Riza's eyes. With a cry of happiness, he realized they were no longer green, and now her normal brown.

"Your eyes." He said "Your eyes! They're normal!"

Riza smiled.

"I guess our kiss broke it." She said "Well, isn't that like a fairy-tale?"

"And you can remember now?" Roy asked, taking Riza's hands in his "You can remember what we've been through together?"

"We met aged six." Riza said "And then aged eight we lost each other. We didn't see each other until we were aged 15. Though I then lost you again a few years later. I showed you the secrets on my back, and decided to join the military so I could find you."

Riza shuddered.

"Then there was Ishbal." She said quietly "I can remember all of that."

Roy put his hand on Riza's.

"After that, I became your subordinate. And we did loads of things together, like going out on missions and paperwork and all that sort of thing. Though most of the time you slacked on paperwork."

"I did, I did." Roy nodded, grinning.

"You did a lot of stupid, reckless things." Riza continued "I was always there to pick up the pieces. We met the Elric brothers. There was the time I thought you were dead."

"The time you cried." Roy remember. Riza smiled slightly.

"Who could blame me? I spent ages investing in you so that you could become Führer and abolish the fraternization rule. And you kept me going. Every morning when I woke up, the only reason I did not sit and wallow in my own self-pity was to come and see you. When I thought we were gone, I thought I was alone again."

"I was so angry at you." Roy remembered "That you would give up just because you thought I was dead."

"And you shouted at me in front of Havoc." Riza laughed "I remember that. And when Pride attacked me, you called me up and told me you had bought flowers. Even though I told you I didn't have a vase, you came round anyway and filled my bathtub with water and floated them in there. It was the weirdest thing ever."

"I had forgotten about that." Roy laughed.

"You were pretty drunk." Riza reminded him "Then there was the Promised day."

"The day I thought I would lose you again." Roy added.

"The day that doctor- not that I can even call him a doctor- sliced my neck open." Riza shuddered as she spoke and Roy put his arms around her "And you lost your sight."

"We spent time together in the hospital." Roy told her "You remember that, right?"

"Yes." Riza rolled her eyes "You kept falling out the bed and then getting up and climbing into mine. By accident, I'm sure." Riza laughed.

"You liked it really." Roy laughed with her.

"We spent pretty much every day together today after that, didn't we?" Riza smiled "Even if it was just as commanding officer and subordinate."

"We still got to go out for meals though." Roy added "And there was that one time we went to that dance."

"It was a very fun dance." Riza agreed. She went quiet.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked. Riza shook her head.

"It's nothing." She said "I just… I remembered something I had forgotten."

"Oh?" Roy looked into her eyes.

"Well, it's more something I didn't even know about."

"Tell me about it."

Riza took a deep breath, and began to explain.

_It was a dark, rainy night and Roy and Riza had stayed late to finish some paperwork together._

"_Are we done, Sir?" Riza asked, looking over to where Roy had given up and was staring out of the window. He started, and turned to her._

"_We might as well be." He grinned, and Riza rolled her eyes._

"_Sir, we can't go until we're finished. This is all important paperwork that needs to be done to assist with the rebuilding of Ishbal. So please take it seriously."_

"_I am taking it seriously!" Roy defended himself "But it's gone eight, I'm cold and it's raining outside. Can't we just go home now?"_

_Riza sighed, but stood up anyway._

"_Come on, Sir." She smiled "I guess we can call it a day."_

_Roy clapped his hands together gleefully, and picked up his coat. _

"_Hey, Riza." He said, putting his arms through the sleeves and pulling his coat on._

"_Yes Sir?"_

"_Do you want to come to my place for a bit? We don't have work until noon tomorrow, so maybe we could have a few drinks."_

"_I don't think that's a good idea." Riza replied "I have Black Hayate to look after."_

"_If you don't come, I'll drink by myself!" Roy replied in a sing-song voice "And you know what happens when I drink by myself!"_

_Riza knew all too well. She nodded._

"_Fine." She replied "A few drinks."_

_Roy held out his arm, and Riza took it. They walked down the halls to the carpark, and Roy opened the door for Riza. She thanked him and got into the car. _

_Roy quickly walked around to the right-hand side, and got in the driver's seat._

"_Urg, it's raining really heavily." Roy complained._

"_You like the rain really." Riza smirked. Roy chuckled. It was one of his guilty pleasures, watching the rain fall. He never told anyone, of course. He would be the laughing-stock of Central. A fire alchemist who is rendered useless in rain actually liking it? Ridiculous._

_Well, he never told anyone apart from Riza. But Riza was different. Riza was special._

"_Do you want to stop off and get some food first?" Roy asked. Riza nodded._

"_Sure. What should we get?"_

"_Well, if you open the glove compartment there should be a pamphlet for a takeaway restaurant right near the apartment block." Roy took his eyes off the road for a second as Riza rummaged for it. _

"_Is it this one?" She asked, pulling out a pamphlet that had 'The Jaded Dragon Xingnese' written on it bold. Roy nodded._

"_Yup, that's the one. Look at it and take your pick. You can have anything you like."_

"_Oh, okay." Riza smiled and looked at it. She felt in the mood for something with seafood. Quickly scanning the menu, she found a nice-sounding dish consisting of king prawns, cashew nuts and a sauce. _

"_I've chosen." Riza said. "What do you want?"_

"_Something with chicken." Roy replied "Not too spicy, though."_

"_Okay." Riza looked through the menu, reading off dishes with chicken that were listed as mild. Roy finally chose one just as they pulled up to the takeout._

"_I'll be back in a second." Roy said "You wait here."_

"_Yes, Sir." Riza replied. Roy grinned, and got out the car, he strode over to the building, and stepped inside. Riza could see him through the big glass windows ordering the food, and then sitting down to wait for it. It never took long for Xingnese food to be cooked, and this was the case this time as Roy came back out a few seconds later with the food (Which smelt delicious) and a bag with a few bottles of what sounded like wine in it._

"_I said a few drinks, Sir." Riza said, eyeing the bag suspiciously. Roy chuckled._

"_It's not for you." He said "It's for me. You're welcome to it, though."_

_Riza smiled._

"_If you say so, Sir."_

_Roy started up the car, and they drove the last five minutes back to Roy's apartment block. It looked a lot like Riza's, grey, dark and some-what dirty. _

_Riza took the bag with the food in, and Roy took the bag with the wine in. He led her into the building, and up the stairs to where he lived. He unlocked the door, and held it open for her._

"_Here we are." Roy said as Riza walked in "This is home."_

"_It's really messy in here." Riza said, looking at the dishes on the table and the washing carelessly thrown down on the floor. Roy laughed._

"_Well, I guess it is. I'll clean it up sometime."_

_Riza smiled, and took a seat at the table as Roy got them both plates and cutlery. He set them down on the table, and Riza picked up the container with her food in, and emptied it out onto the plate. She also helped herself to some rice._

"_This is really good." She said after taking a mouthful. Roy grinned._

"_I'm glad. The Jaded Dragon is the best place I know off. Want to try some of this?"_

_Riza nodded, and the two of them shared a forkful of their meal with the other. Riza thought the chicken dish was nice, but she definitely preferred the prawns. Roy liked them both equally._

_They finished up their meals, and Riza put the plates in the sink as Roy got out two wine glasses and a bottle opener. They sat down on the sofa, and Roy opened up the first bottle, and poured out a drink each._

"_This is nice." He said "Just you and me, having a drink together. This is nice."_

"_Mm." Riza agreed and took a sip. The wine tasted good, slightly bitter but with a hint of something floral. _

"_So, I never really ask. How are you?" Roy asked, taking a sip of his own glass._

"_I'm good." Riza replied "The normal. Fighting crime, being awesome, terrifying everyone."_

"_You are very scary." Roy laughed. Riza laughed too._

"_I guess sometimes I can be a little bit harsh." She agreed "How have you been?"_

"_Good." He replied "I find it weird how we spend pretty much every day together yet we never have time to really talk to each other."_

"_That's because you slack so much." Riza didn't have to think "If you finished your work quickly, we could chat."_

"_I'll have to remember that." He replied, filling Riza's glass up. Riza raised an eyebrow at him._

"_Are you trying to get me drunk, Sir?" She asked. Roy grinned._

"_I might be." He replied "You're not saying no."_

_Riza grinned at him, and started to drink._

_A few hours and a large amount of drinks later, both Roy and Riza were very, very drunk._

"_We should go apple bobbing!" Roy cried out gleefully, his face red._

"_Apple bobbing?" Riza replied, struggling to sit upright "It's like, one am! And wet and cold! How are we going to go apple bobbing?"_

_Roy opened his mouth to reply, but dissolved into laughter. Riza joined in, and the two of them laughed like maniacs together._

"_You know." Roy started "I think you look really pretty tonight." _

"_I think I look pretty all the time." Riza giggled back._

"_Well, you do." Roy replied "But tonight you look even more so."_

"_Are you flirting with me , Sir?" Riza slurred. _

"_Don't call me sir." Roy replied._

"_Sorry." Riza smirked at him like a vixen "Are you flirting with me, Ma'am?"_

_Roy stared at her dumbstruck for a second, and then started to laugh. Riza put down her wine glass, and moved closer to him so that their legs were touching._

"_If you are flirting with me." She blushed, looking down "Then I am totally 'kay with it."_

"_That's good." Roy put down his glass and touched Riza's cheek "'Cause I am totally flirting with you."_

_His kissed her at that point, their mouths intermingling. They both tasted of alcohol, sharp, sweet, naughty. _

_Roy pushed Riza back, and leaned on top of her, not once breaking the kiss. His hands roamed along her body, caressing, grabbing, squeezing. Riza let him._

"_Let's go to the bedroom." Riza breathed, breaking their kiss "We can't do this here."_

_Roy nodded, and picked her up. He carried her through to his bedroom, and laid her down on his bed. Getting each other's clothes off proved a challenge, as both of them were intoxicated and lacking hand-eye co-ordination skills. Somehow they managed it, and flopped down on the bed together._

_The next morning, Riza woke up in Roy's bed with a pounding headache. She rolled out of the bed and realized she was only wearing a large t-shirt that had to belong to Roy. Clutching her pounding head, she collected up her clothes and put them back on. _

_Walking out into the main room, she saw Roy asleep on the couch, snoring loudly and smelling like a mini-bar. Trying to block out the sound of his snores, she quickly wrote a note telling him she would see him later, and went home._

"So what you're telling me." Roy said when Riza had finished "Is that we slept together and there is a great possibility that _is_ actually _my _child?"

"Yes." Riza looked away "I couldn't remember what had happened because I had been so drunk, but now I can remember it like it was yesterday."

"Urg, I'm so stupid!" Roy said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry." Riza quickly apologized "I should've known better. I've put you in a situation now."

Roy looked at her, slightly surprised. He suddenly grabbed Riza into a hug, laughing softly.

"You're such a silly girl." He said "Don't be sorry. I should be sorry. But really, I'm just happy that the child is mine."

"I am too." Riza smiled "I finally get to start a family with the man I love."

"Yeah, that's true." Roy stroked her hair, which was still auburn "I wonder what the people at Central will think though?"

"Don't worry about them." Riza said "Technically we left the military the moment they accused you of being a murderer. You can go back, but I'm afraid I will probably have to watch from the side lines. Unless you can get a favour from my grandpa."

"It couldn't help to ask him." Roy grinned.

"Well, first we got to convince them you are _not _the man that killed all those women. Then we can worry about the rest of it."

"Okay." Roy kissed her forehead "I guess I can go with that."


	17. Chapter 17

_Okay, this is the second-to-last chapter!_

_If you were curious, the bit with the apple-bobbing actually happened XD I was with my friends for Halloween and it got to 1am and I wanted to go apple bobbing XD We didn't until the next morning though :C And I got my whole head pushed under the water too XD _

_But yes, the next chapter will be the last one!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

_Chapter 17_

Eirnin cursed, and punched the wall. How could this of happened? He had spent ages planning this, years planning this, and that man was going to ruin it all. He had hired people to kill for him, left notes, made it seem like Mustang was the prime suspect. He had manipulated those Elric brothers to do his bidding, and successfully at that. He had managed to convince everyone in Central that that Mustang was the murderer, not that he wasn't one already after Ishbal. Eirnin had had Riza right in his hands, and now he was going to lose her again if he sat back and did nothing.

He couldn't make her hate him though. The key to making her want to stay with him was to make her like him. He was kind to her (Most of the time, anyway), made sure she was safe, and this morning he had even let her go out with Mustang for one last time. He was trying to be nice to her.

Sometimes he wondered whether it was worth it. He had done so much to become perfect for her. He had lived everyday trying to make himself someone she would love. He had been through so much, all for her. But she still didn't look at him the way she looked at that bastard.

Maybe it was time to give up; time to throw in the rag, put his arms up, walk away. He knew he was walking down a road that came to a dead end; he just didn't know how long he would be walking for until he got there.

There was a knock at the door. Eirnin walked over, and opened it. He was met with the sight of a large man in military uniform. Peering around him, Eirnin saw that there were three or four other men here too, also in military dress.

"Good afternoon, Sir." The soldier outside said. He was very tall, and even more muscular. He had a bald head apart from one small cluster of hair at the front, and he seemed to sparkle.

"Please, come on in." Eirnin smiled gleefully, happy that Mustang was finally going to get what was coming to him "He's out at the moment but he should be back soon."

Sure enough, Roy and Riza got back about an hour later. Roy had his arm slung around Riza's shoulders, and they were laughing carelessly about something. Roy threw open the front door, and let Riza in. It was only when he turned and saw the soldiers looking round at them did his laughter stop and his face fell.

"What's wrong?" Riza asked, turning "Eirnin's not-" she stopped.

"Colonel Mustang. Lieutenant Hawkeye." General Armstrong said, standing up "It's good to see you."

"And you." Roy replied, eyeing him suspiciously.

"You know why we're here, right?" Armstrong asked. Roy looked at the other soldiers. With a sigh, he realized they were his men: Furey, Havoc, Breda and even Falman were there too.

Roy nodded.

"I do." He said "And I will go with you without a fight."

"No!" Riza said, stepping forwards. All eyes turned to her "No. You can't take him."

"Lieutenant-" Armstrong started.

"I'm not a lieutenant." Riza cut in "I'm just me."

"Miss Hawkeye." Armstrong corrected himself, and then supressed a smile "Or perhaps Mrs Mustang?"

"Whichever one you feel comfortable to say." Riza smiled and put her arm around Roy's. She saw Eirnin pull a face.

"Mrs Mustang." He said "You seem to be a little confused as to why we are here. We are not here to arrest the Colonel, nor are we here to take you two back to Central. We are here to relay the information that the case has been lifted."

"Lifted?" Roy echoed. Armstrong nodded.

"It turns out it was all a mistake. Someone framed you, Sir, and we never doubted your innocence for a second. Even if it did seem like you did a runner."

"That was because-"

"Because Mrs Mustang is pregnant, I can see." Armstrong smiled at Riza "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Riza smiled back "But that's not why we went to Briggs. We were given a letter saying that the Major General, your sister, had asked for us."

"Oh?" Armstrong said, deep in thought "So what the Elric brothers told us was true."

"The Elric brothers?" Roy echoed, and then smiled "I knew they wouldn't let us down."

"So, Eirnin Payne." Armstrong turned to him "We are putting you under arrest for hiring assassins to murder thirteen women, holding hostages, kidnapping, and also trying to frame a highly-ranked military personnel for a crime they did not commit. You will be coming to central with us."

"I will not go!" Eirnin cried, moving to clap his hands together. In a spilt second, the four men that made up Team Mustang jumped on him, restricting him from performing any sort of alchemy.

"This isn't fair!" He cried as they handcuffed him in a special sort of handcuffs that meant he couldn't clap his hands together "I worked so hard for this! You can't take me away!"

"We have all the evidence needed to put you away for a long, long time." Armstrong explained "You better come quietly and save yourself the hassle."

"But how?" He said. Major Armstrong chuckled.

"Let's just say we're not as stupid as you thought we were." He replied "And we never doubted the Colonel's innocence. We knew he wouldn't do something like that, and that made us suspicious. After doing much research, and with a little help from the Elric brothers we were able to trace everything back to one person. You."

"It's not possible!" Eirnin let out a cry of anguish as the men hauled him out of the house "I'll be back! I'll take my revenge!"

"Get in the car." Falman told him.

Eirnin did not put up much more of a fight. The men left him in there, and went back into the house.

"It's been too long, Miss Riza!" Havoc said. Riza smiled.

"Riza is fine." She said. Havoc laughed.

"Wow, your pregnancy really has made you soft!" He said. Riza laughed.

"Just you wait." She said "As soon as the baby it out I will show you just how soft I am. I bet you've all been slacking off!"

"No." Breda said quickly "Well, okay. Maybe a little."

"As I suspected." Riza sighed "We'll have to find you someone to take care of you all. Since I obviously will have my own baby to look after, I won't be able to look after you big babies."

"That was rude." Havoc said, mocking hurt. Riza smacked him lightly.

"Oh, speaking of looking after babies." Furey piped up. He went outside, and Riza heard the van door opening and closing. There was the sound of skittish feet, and then barking.

Riza's face lit up as Black Hayate ran through the door and up to his master. She dropped down carefully onto her knees, and grabbed the dog into a hug, stoking his soft fur.

"Hayate!" She said "I missed you so much! Have you been taking good care of Furey for me?"

Black Hayate barked, as if he understood the question. Riza smiled.

"You're going to have a new friend soon, Hayate!" Riza said, fluffing up his fur "How does that sound?"

He barked again. Riza let him go, and stood back up.

"So, what's going to happen now?" Roy asked no in particular "Are we going to go back to Central?"

"I don't mind." Riza said.

"It would be nice to see you more often." Armstrong offered.

"It would be nice to have my old drinking buddy back." Falman said with a smile.

"Maybe you can get Breda to stop drinking himself into bankruptcy." Furey said, eyeing Breda nervously.

"Maybe you can stop Furey from being such a goodie-two-shoes all the time." Breda replied, ruffling Furey's hair rather hard.

"You should come back." Havoc put in "Apparently the Führer has something he wants to see you about. And it's not linked to the murder case or anything."

"Not linked?" Roy repeated "Well, there's a change."

"Are you okay to travel?" Breda asked Riza. She nodded sternly.

"I'm absolutely fine." She said "Let's go."

The van was actually quite small, especially now that the back was occupied. The seven of them (And of course, Black Hayate) piled in along with the bags of Riza and Roy's stuff they had brought with them from Feirme, along with a few things from the Hawkeye manor, namely photo albums. Riza hadn't had a reason to bring them along before, but now she wished to show her child what her grandparents had looked like.

The drive back to Central was long, and Riza got very uncomfortable. Her stomach kept twinging, not painfully but very uncomfortably.

"Roy." She said quietly. Riza was next to the window and he was on her left.

"What is it?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

"I feel weird." She said. Roy suddenly looked alert.

"What kind of weird?" He asked "Is it the baby?"

Riza was silent. She didn't want to cause any more trouble.

"It- It might be." Riza admitted "My stomach keeps twinging."

"Are you going into labour?" Roy asked, his voice loud and panicked. This got everyone else's attention.

"You're going into labour?" Armstrong, who was driving the car, asked. Riza nodded.

"I think so." She said "But it's only early signs."

"We should go to a hospital." Roy said, his voice still panicky "We should go to a hospital right now."

"We don't need to." Riza replied "Like it said, it's only early signs. It'll be hours before it even progresses to that."

Roy counted on his fingers "But you're only 36 weeks pregnant!" He said "Doesn't that classify as premature?"

"Wait, if you're 36 weeks pregnant…" Havoc (who was sat next to Armstrong in the middle of the front) turned and shot Roy a surprised look "That means you and Riza we doing the dirty whilst you were in Central!"

"Don't put it like that!" Roy crossed his arms "You may have your legs back, but I will not hesitate to put you back in your wheelchair!"

"Okay, okay!" Havoc held his hands up "Calm down, Mr. Angry Man! I can't believe we didn't notice anything though!"

"Well, I've been up in Briggs most of the time so I wouldn't have noticed anyway." Falman said gloomily "It's still as cold as ever up there."

"Is the coffee still as bad?" Roy asked. Falman shivered and nodded.

It was another four or five hours until they reached Central, and the whole way Roy could feel Riza squirming. He put his hand on her knee, and Riza laid her own hand over the top of his.

When they finally arrived, Armstrong dropped Roy and Riza off at Riza's apartment, saying he would tell the Führer they were back in Central.

"Are you nervous?" Roy asked. Riza laughed.

"About what?" She replied.

"Going back into your apartment." Roy smiled softly "It's been a while after all."

"It'll be fine." She said with a smile "The first thing I'll do though is have a bath. I really need a bath."

They walked up to her front door, and Riza unlocked it and pushed it open. The inside was a bit of a mess, and it was clear someone had been here. But that was to be expected, the Military had probably searched her first.

"Wow, home sweet home." Riza said, and then paused "Actually, I think our house in Feirme probably counts as home now, but oh well."

"We can go back there soon." Roy said, wrapping his arms around her "After all, this place is hardly big enough for a family of three and neither is my place."

"You're not quitting the military, idiot." Riza said, smacking Roy playfully "You can just file for a family house. Or add it to the list of things you want to ask my grandfather."

"If you say so." Roy kissed her softly "Let's get you into that bath, okay? I'll find you something to eat. I bet you're starving."

Riza nodded, and went to her room to find a change of clothes. There wasn't much there that would fit now, only a few stretchy t-shirts and a pair of trousers that had an elastic waist. She went into the bathroom, dumping all her clothes (Including the ones she was wearing) outside so they would not get damp from steam.

She ran the taps, and waited for them to get warm. She had missed this little bathroom, more so than she thought she would. When the bath was at the right depth and temperature, she shut off the taps and climbed in, shuddering as the warm water ran over her body and made her skin prickle.

"Ahhh." She said as she sunk lower, letting the water splash over her shoulders and neck.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and Roy called into her.

"I'm going to go get some dinner." He said "Will you be okay for a few minutes?"

"I'll be fine!" Riza called back "Please get something with lamb in it!"

"Lamb?" Roy replied "Okay! I'll be right back!"

"Okay!"

Riza heard the front door open and close, and settled back down into the water. The twinges in her stomach were getting stronger, and she could call them painful now. They felt like someone was pushing down on her stomach, but under her skin. It was the strangest feeling ever.

Riza washed her hair, surprising herself as her hair turned back to blonde as she rubbed the shampoo in. She felt now like the thing with Eirnin was a dream, so long ago. There was nothing on her that bound them together now.

Riza was still soaking in the tub when Roy got back. He knocked on the door again, and told her that the food was hot and to come and get it. Riza got herself out of the bath, got dried, and then opened the door to get her clothes. She got dressed, and walked over to the table.

She sat down heavily into a chair, and smiled up at Roy when he placed a plate in front of her. Finally, they would be able to eat a meal together.

"It's nice to be able to do this." Roy said, speaking Riza's thoughts. She smiled.

"Yeah." She replied "It's very nice."

That night, they both slept in Riza's bed. She was still having contractions, but they were still not that painful.

Halfway through the night however, Riza woke up to a sharp pain in her stomach that made her cry out.

"Roy!" She gasped shaking him awake "Roy, wake up!"

"Riza!" Roy exclaimed, his eyes shooting open "Riza, what is it?"

"It hurts!" She moaned "My stomach, it hurts really badly!"

"Is it time?" He asked. Riza glared at him.

"I don't bloody know, do I?" She said "I've never done this before!"

"We should get you to the hospital." Roy said, getting out of the bed and hauling Riza to her feet. Riza took two steps before she felt something inside of her burst. Liquid began to trickle down her thighs.

"Did you just wet yourself?" Roy asked, going into panic mode. Riza frowned at him.

"No! My waters just broke." Riza said, a little too harshly "Get me some clean underwear and something to wear!"

"What does that mean?" Roy raced around the room in a flurry, finding clothes for Riza to wear "Is the baby coming now?"

"No, not yet!" Riza waddled out of the room with Roy hot on her heels "But very soon."

"I'll call Rebecca." Roy said, rushing to the phone and dialling the number of Riza's best friend "She'll know what to do."

"I know what to do!" Riza grumped back whilst cleaning herself up. She didn't have any bottoms that would fit, so she was wearing a long maxi dress that Roy had found buried deep in her wardrobe. It was stretchy, so it was good.

"Hi, yes, is that Rebecca?" Riza heard Roy ask. There was a pause "Yes, I know it's the middle of the night but listen Riza's waters have broken and I don't know what to do… You didn't know she was pregnant? Well, she's pregnant… Yes, it is my child… Yes, I do plan to take full responsibility… No! This isn't even the time to be talking about this!... I'm taking her to Central hospital now… The main one… Yes, I'll see you there… Bye."

Roy put the phone down, and walked back to the bathroom.

"We're going to need to take some baby stuff." Riza told him "Remember we have the clothes Marge gave us? Wow, that feels like forever ago. We'll need to take some of that stuff."

"Okay." Roy went back to where he had dumped their bags earlier on when they had got in, and rummaged through them for baby clothes. He picked up a cute yellow onesie with a duck print on it. Perfect. He took some cloth nappies as well, and put them all in a separate bag. As an afterthought, he grabbed some of Riza's nightclothes as well.

Riza was having another contraction when Roy came back in, and he let her squeeze his hand whilst it went on.

"I'm going to kill you." She muttered when it was over "I swear, I am going to kill you."

Roy got her down the stairs and into the car, and then drove like a maniac to the hospital. When they got there, Rebecca was already stood waiting. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed (Which she probably had) with her hair sticking up and no make-up. When she saw Riza, she smiled.

"Riza!" She cried, pulling the other woman into a hug "It's been too long! What strange circumstances we're meeting under today, huh?"

"It's good to see you." Riza replied as Roy checked her in. There seemed to be a bit of a fuss since Riza hadn't had any appointments throughout her pregnancy, and they had not booked a room for the birth either.

"So, you finally did _it_ with the colonel." Rebecca laughed. "We were all taking bets as to how long it would be until you did. I guess I win. Havoc isn't going to be pleased!"

Riza smiled, and then scrunched up her face at another contraction. Rebecca sat her down quickly, and they let it pass.

"I just want to have this baby now." Riza said, putting her hands on her stomach.

"I think the baby just wants out, too." Rebecca laughed "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"No." Riza shook her head "We don't even have a name. Me and Roy never really got round to talking about it. He didn't even know it was his child until yesterday."

"_Yesterday_?" Rebecca exclaimed "What?"

"It's a story for another day." Riza chuckled as a nurse bounded over with a wheelchair to take her to the room.

"I got you a private room." Roy told her as they walked down the halls "I thought it would be more appropriate for you, since we still haven't seen your grandfather and explained the situation."

"Urg, I forgot about that." Riza pulled a face "Oh well. I guess we can invite him in once the baby is born."

"Right, we're almost there!" The nurse said cheerfully, wheeling Riza around a corner. She had refused to get into the wheelchair at first, saying that she had a perfectly fine pair of legs she could use. The nurse had managed to convince her to get in it though, and because of this Roy respected her. No-one could make Riza do something she didn't want to, except the military but that didn't count. Riza, for all he loved her, was like a stubborn mule; you could take her to water, but you couldn't make her drink.

They reached the room where Riza would be staying, and the nurse let them in. It was a fair size, with a big white bed where Riza expected she would be giving birth later on. There were various machines set up around it, with wires and cables trailing everywhere. There was also a sofa, and a few chairs around for visitors.

"Right." The nurse said, picking up something wrapped in a plastic packet. She opened it, and shook out a hospital gown "Let's get you changed into this."

Riza nodded, and dropped her dress. Both Roy and Rebecca had seen her naked before (Thank communal showers for that) And she was about to be on display for all the nurses to see anyway, so now was no time to be self-conscious of her body. The nurse helped her into the gown, and then set her up on the bed.

"I'm going to go and get the midwife." She said "She'll come and check you and the baby's stats. I'll be right back, call if you need anything before that."

"Thank you." Riza replied. The nurse left, leaving the three of them alone.

"Urg." Riza groaned as another contraction hit "These are getting worse and worse now."

"The baby will probably be born soon." Rebecca said "You just got to hang in there a little bit longer!"

"That's easy for you to say." Riza replied.

"It is, isn't it?" Rebecca chuckled "I don't think I will be having kids for a long time!"

"I don't think Havoc will be pleased at that." Riza smirked. Rebecca blushed a little.

"Hey, there is nothing going on between us!" She argued, crossing her arms and then smiling a little "At least, not yet."

"I knew it!" Riza laughed "You can't hide these things from me."

"We all knew it anyway." Roy put in "It's so obvious."

"As obvious as you and Riza were?" Rebecca smirked. Roy grinned.

There was a knock on the door, and the midwife came in.

"Hello there, my duck!" She said, smiling at Riza warmly "I go by the name of Mama Leanbh. You can call me what you wish though, most women do as they push out their babies."

She laughed, and Riza couldn't help but laugh along too. Mama Leanbh reminded her a lot of Marge.

"Right, I'm going to need to check you." Mama Leanbh said "It's going to feel uncomfortable, but please bear with it, okay?"

"Okay." Riza nodded.

Mama Leanbh put on some sterilized gloves she had just gotten from a packet, and pulled down Riza's blankets.

"Please put your legs up." She said. Riza did as she was told, putting her legs up and baring all her parts down south for what might as well have been the whole world to see. Quickly, Mama Leanbh checked her, making Riza squirm uncomfortably.

"I told you it would be uncomfortable, didn't I?" Mama Leanbh chuckled when she was done "But the good news is, you are about 9cm dilated, which means that you are very close to having this baby."

"Nine centimetres dilated?" Roy asked "What does that mean?"

"It means that the cervix, the bit which holds the baby in-" She pointed to the cervix on a poster that was stuck to the wall "Is almost stretched enough to allow the baby through. As soon as Miss Riza here is at 10cm she can push."

"And then we'll have our baby." Riza said.

"Exactly." Roy smiled.

It did not take long at all for Riza to get to 10cm, and finally ready to push. Her contractions were so bad now that if anyone even so much as touched her whilst she was in the midst of one, she would scream insults at them. Roy had been called every name under the sun, and a few more he swore Riza had made up.

"I think we're ready to go!" Mama Leanbh said with a smile. Riza exhaled loudly.

"It's about bloody time!" She said "I'm sick of this all now!"

"As soon as you feel the urge to push, push hard with your contraction, okay?" Mama Leanbh smiled. Riza nodded.

"Okay." She said.

There were a few seconds of silence, and then Riza's contraction hit.

"Push now!" Mama Leanbh said. Riza did so, grabbing a hold of Roy's hand and squeezing it so hard he though she was going to tear his hand right off.

"Roy, I hate you! I hate you so much!" She screamed as the baby crowned "I'm actually going to kill you! You are going to die!"

"Do you want to see?" Mama Leanbh asked Roy. He shook his head quickly, making her laugh.

A few more pushes (And death threats) later, and the baby was finally born. Riza heard the child screaming, and started to laugh.

"The time is 3:46, and it's a…" Mama Leanbh said, pausing for effect "It's a girl! Congratulations!"

"A little girl!" Roy smiled, watching as Mama Leanbh handed the baby to Riza. He had to admit, at the moment it was an ugly little thing, all wrinkled and covered in goop. It looked a bit like a potato.

"She's beautiful." Riza breathed, stroking the tufts of black hair that adorned her daughter's head "Hello, little one! Welcome!"

"She has your hair!" Rebecca said to Roy. He smiled.

"I bet she had Riza's eyes, though."

"Well, all babies are born with blue eyes, so we won't know." Mama Leanbh smiled "Mr. Roy, would you like to help bath the baby?"

Roy's eye lit up, and he nodded. Mama Leanbh took the baby back for Riza, and handed her to Roy. He cradled her like a china doll, worried he might drop her.

"Look, you do it like this." Mama Leanbh told him "Make sure the water is not too hot, and put her in carefully whilst supporting her head. Gently wash her. That's it!"

Roy smiled, pleased he was getting something right. Maybe being a parent wasn't going to be so bad.

Once the baby was washed and dry, Riza was able to give her her first meal. Mama Leanbh told them she would let them have some time alone, and left.

"What are you going to call her?" Rebecca asked. Riza and Roy looked at each other.

"Do you want to name her?" Riza asked. Roy smiled.

"It's fine. Any name you choose will be perfect, I can tell." He replied.

"Then…" Riza thought "How about Euginea?"

"Okay, _most _names you choose will be perfect." Roy chuckled as Rebecca burst out laughing. Riza smiled.

"How about Rosie?" She asked "Like the girl in 'Where rainbows end'."

"Rosie or Roisin?" Roy asked "Pronounced _Rosh-heen._ Rosie is the nickname for it."

"Roisin sound beautiful." Riza smiled "Hello, little Roisin!"

After Riza had finished feeding Rosie, Roy took her back so Riza could sleep. She was exhausted, and Roy didn't blame her. Rosie fell asleep as well, so Roy put her in the little cot in the room and got some sleep himself.

The next morning, both parents were woken by Rosie screaming. Riza got up, and fed her. After that, she calmed down a bit and Riza sat and watched her baby as Roy went to find something for them to eat.

There was a knock on the door, and thinking it was Roy or a nurse, Riza told them to come in.

However, it was not Roy or a nurse who came in. It was her grandfather, Führer Grumman. He came in with a big bunch of flowers, and set it down on the bedside table.

"Congratulations, my granddaughter." He said, taking her hand and kissing it "A new baby in the family is a very special thing."

"Her name is Rosie." Riza told him with a smiled "And thank you."

"You're most welcome." Grumman chuckled "Though I guess this means we're not going to be seeing you back in the field for a while?"

"I'm afraid not." Riza forced herself not to frown. Roy came back in, carrying a try of food.

"I saw the soldiers outside." He said "Is everything alright- Oh! Führer Grumman!"

"Roy Mustang." Grumman laughed "I should've guessed. You're the father of my new great-granddaughter, correct?"

"That is correct, Sir." Roy replied, nervously. Grumman laughed.

"Congratulations." He said.

"You're not angry?" Roy asked. Grumman shook his head.

"Well, two of my finest broke the fraternization rule and should both deserve un-honourable dismissal." He paused "But, I am willing to overlook it going by the fact that my granddaughter will be leaving the military now to take care of her child."

Riza and Roy exchanged a smile.

"So Roy will be able to carry on?" Riza asked. He nodded.

"He will be. And he will also be able to hire a non-commissioned personal assistant, if he so wishes. That personal assistant will also be allowed to bring her baby to work with her every day, is she so wishes."

Riza looked at her grandfather in shock.

"You mean…?"

"You two can still work together." He said with a chuckle "Isn't that just grand? And also, don't worry about living arrangements; I've already prepared you a nice three-bedroom house in a good part of town."

"Thank you, Sir." Roy said, his face breaking into a huge smile.

"It's no problem." Grumman laughed "Could I please hold my great-granddaughter now?"


	18. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

"Mama!" Rosie called, running through from the garden, trailing dirt behind her "Mama, look what I found for you!"

Riza turned to her daughter, and smiled as she thrust a few flowers at her which she had in her chubby fist.

"Oh, wow!" Riza said, accepting the flowers "Thank you! Aren't you a sweet girl!"

"A sweet girl! A sweet girl!" Rosie called, jumping around happily. Riza smiled.

"Let's find a vase for them, shall we?" She said, taking Rosie's muddy hand in hers. They found a vase under the sink, and Riza helped her daughter fill it up with water and put it in the living room window.

Rosie had just turned four years old, and was learning new things very quickly. Roy and Riza were also planning their wedding, which was to be in the next few weeks. Rosie was to be their flower girl. They had talked about getting married sooner, but both of them decided that they would want Rosie at an age where she would be able to remember it .

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Riza said, pointing to Rosie's hands "Then we can go down to Central and meet up with Papa to go cake shopping!"

"Cake shopping, yay!" Rosie jumped around again. Riza laughed.

Looking after a child was very hard work, but she would not trade Rosie for the world. She had Roy's hair, and her eyes. Roy's stubbornness, and her kindness. Roy's sense of humour, and her intelligence.

After Rosie was all cleaned up, Riza picked her up and carried her out of the house and down to the car. As her grandfather had said, they now lived in a very nice house in central, with enough room for Rosie to be a monster and make a mess without it being too much of an issue. They still had the house in Feirme, along with the Hawkeye Manor. These served as holiday homes, and Riza was sure Rosie would enjoy going to both Feirme and Capall, not that there was much in either place.

She strapped her daughter into her car seat, and started up the car. They drove the Central Command, where Roy was already outside waiting for them. He saw the car, and waved.

"Hello, Riza." He greeted her with a kiss as she got out of the car "And hello, my beautiful Rosie! Have you been a good girl for Mama?"

"Oh, am I not beautiful too?" Riza teased. Roy grinned.

"I didn't think I had to tell you anymore." He said "Anyway, are we all ready to go cake shopping?"

"Yeah!" Rosie cried gleefully from the car. Riza let Roy get into the driver's seat, and sat down beside him.

"Let's go, then." He said.

They got to the cake shop in record time. It was the one that Gracia had recommended to them, the one that she had purchased her and Hughes's wedding cake from. Apparently, they had a large selection that all tasted amazing.

"Right, you need to behave, Rosie." Riza told her daughter as they walked up to the shop "Don't make a mess!"

"Okay!" Rosie replied, grinning up at her mother. They entered the shop, and were greeted by a worker.

Roy had already made reservations, and so there were already samples ready for them to test. He and Riza had gone through a list and chosen five flavours they wanted to try; Chocolate, lemon, strawberry, rose and fruit cake.

The worker took them through a door to a bright airy room with a table, which was already laden with the five different types of cake.

They were then greeted by the chef, who talked them through all the different shapes and sizes they could make the cakes. Riza, Roy and Rosie all had a taste of the cakes. Riza preferred the rose one, Roy the chocolate and Rosie proclaimed (Rather loudly) that she liked all of them.

In the end, they decided on a circular three-tier wedding cake, with the first tier being lemon, the next rose and the final one chocolate, as it was very rich. It would be covered in white icing, and piped with intricate patterns.

Now finished with the cake shopping, they headed back to the house. Riza made dinner, and then bathed Rosie and put her to bed for the night. All the running around and eating cake had exhausted her, and she was out like a light.

"She's in bed now." Riza told Roy when she came back through to the living room. Roy smiled up at her.

"That's good." Roy said "I thought she was going to fall asleep through dinner."

"She's exhausted." Riza laughed, flopping down on the sofa next to Roy, and snuggling up to him.

"I'm exhausted too." Roy said with a yawn "Will you take me to bed too?"

"In your dreams." Riza laughed "Not 'till we're married."

"It's a bit late for that." Roy replied "We already have a daughter."

"And a beautiful daughter at that." Riza added.

"We're really going to get married, aren't we?" Roy asked "We really have a daughter. This is really all happening."

"It is." Riza said "This is all real. Hasn't it worked out well for us?"

"It really has." Roy replied, kissing Riza gently "It really has."

The weeks flew by, and suddenly it was their wedding day. Riza stood in one of the back rooms of the wedding hall, gazing at herself in the mirror. Rebecca, Olivier and Marge stood by her side.

"You look beautiful." Rebecca told her.

"I'm not into dresses but I must admit it is very pretty." Olivier added.

"You look simply stunning, honey!" Marge boomed.

Rosie, who was dressed in an adorable flower girl dress was playing with Marge's two nieces, Emma and Gemma. They seemed to be having fun, playing what looked like a game of house.

"You look pretty, Mama!" Rosie told her mother with a smile. Riza reached down and picked her up.

"Thank you." Riza said. Her dress was a very simple white dress with a satin bodice and long skirt. It had long sleeves, and a high back for the pure reason of covering her tattoo. She and Rebecca had gone dress shopping together, and also bought bridesmaid dresses (Even one for Olivier, as she had said she would wear one just this once) that day, which were similar to her wedding dress, just in pale blue and sleeveless.

Riza had been told that on her wedding day, she would feel nervous; but all she felt was ready. She was ready to marry the man she had loved for basically all her life.

Someone stuck their head around the door, and informed the group of women that they were ready. Riza thanked them, and picked up her bouquet of flowers.

"Are you ready?" Rebecca asked. Riza nodded.

"Let's do this."

Roy stood at the top of the room, with only the Officiant in front of him and Team Mustang to his right as his ushers, and Havoc as his best man. Unlike Riza, he was very nervous. Not nervous to marry her, but nervous of what was to come after.

The music started up, and he could hear the guests stand up. He turned slowly. Included in the crowd were The Elrics, the Rockbelles, Mai, Lin and Lan Fan, the Armstrong family, Madame Christmas and the girls, and also Führer Grumman. There were a few soldiers, including some he recognized from Briggs.

The doors at the back swung open, and Roy felt his heart beat faster. First in were the flower girls. He watched with a smile as Rosie, Emma and Gemma filed in, throwing delicate petals in their wake. Then the bridesmaids entered, Rebecca, then Olivier, then Marge.

Finally, Riza appeared. The first thing he noticed about her was her hair, which had been carefully put up into a bun. Stuck into the bun were beautiful little clips which reflected the light, meaning he could see them from where he was standing. A veil was clipped on top of her head, falling over her face and some-what obscuring her from his view.

Riza looked up, and saw Roy stood in front of her. She smiled softly at him, and walked slowly down the aisle, only vaguely aware of the people stood either side snapping photos, smiling and clapping. She only had eyes for Roy, who was dressed in his formal military outfit.

The time it took for her to walk down the aisle felt like forever, but finally she was stood beside Roy with her arm in his. They turned to the Officiant, and the guests took their seats again.

"Welcome, guests of Mr. Roy Mustang and Miss. Riza Hawkeye." The Officiant started "You are all gathered here today to witness their union of marriage."

Riza looked into Roy's eyes, and smiled at him.

The Officiant read through a speech, but Riza was only half-listening to him. She was too busy looking at Roy, her soon-to-be husband.

"Now, Mr. Mustang, repeat after me." The Officiant said, drawing Riza's attention back. Roy turned to her and took both her hands in his. "I, Roy Mustang, take Riza Hawkeye, to be my lawfully wedded wife"

"I, Roy Mustang, take Riza Hawkeye, to be my lawfully wedded wife." Roy repeated.

"To have and to hold from this day forward,"

"To have and to hold from this day forward,"

"For better, for worse,"

"For better, for worse,"

"For richer, for poorer,"

"For richer, for poorer,"

"In sickness and in health,"

"In sickness and in health,"

"To love and to cherish,"

"To love and to cherish,"

"'Till death us do part."

"'Till death us do part."

Riza smiled up at Roy, and said her vows.

"I, Riza Hawkeye, take Roy Mustang, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, For better, for worse, For richer, for poorer, In sickness and in health, To love and to cherish, 'Till death us do part."

"You may now kiss the bride." The Officiant said, and Roy gently lifted Riza's veil. He looked into her eyes, and she smiled softly as he closed the distance between their lips and they kissed.

All the guests stood up clapping, cheering and laughing with joy over their show of love.

Riza's lips left Roy's, and they stood back to look over the hall. Rosie rand over to Riza, and she picked her up, laughing as she did.

Together, the three of them took their first steps as a proper family down the aisle.

Roy Mustang, Riza Mustang, and their beautiful daughter Rosie Mustang.

* * *

_And that's all folks! Thank you for reading. I'm glad I was able to get all the chapters up! It's been a lot of hard work to get this written and then edited and uploaded, but I'm happy it's done with now XD _

_Thank you again for reading, and I hope I will be able to have the pleasure of entertaining you with my writing another time! I have at the moment another Royai fanfic in planning (And that one is an AU and has ballet in it!)_

_I'll see you all soon!_

_MeikoSakine_


End file.
